Why This Sushi Master Wishes You'd Turn Off Your Phone When Eating
Imagine sitting at your favorite restaurant, ordering a meal that you have been looking forward to all week, and getting ready to enjoy the first bite — except someone sitting at the table next to you is talking obnoxiously on their cellphone. It can ruin your whole dining experience, can't it?
This is exactly why sushi master Endo Kazutoshi of restaurants Endo at the Rotunda and Sumi in the UK wishes diners would switch off their phones while dining at his restaurant. Endo's reaction came while watching an episode of "Billions," where one customer loudly answers a phone call while sitting at a tightly packed sushi bar counter, consequently disturbing his fellow diners. He told Insider that the seating arrangement at his own sushi bar is quite similar and found such behavior to be, quite frankly, embarrassing. Endo wishes people would turn off their phones, adding that: "Then for two, two hour and a half please give to me the time. Then we chatting together."
Seems pretty reasonable, doesn't it? Luckily, Endo isn't the only one who wishes that his customers would put their phones away while dining at his restaurant. In 2012, the Los Angeles Times reported that Eva, a restaurant in LA ,was offering its diners a 5% discount on the bill. The catch? Diners had to put all digital devices away before being seated. Justifying his proposition, owner Mark Gold explained that he wanted people to enjoy each other's company at Eva and that, "[I]t's about two people sitting together and just connecting, without the distraction of a phone."
Some of the world's best restaurants are advocates of the 'no phone rule'
Bloomberg interviewed some of the finest restaurants across the world to see what they thought about the phone ban and got mixed reviews. Nobu, for one, had no issues with the use of mobile phones in its restaurants in New York and London. Others even encouraged it, adding that people clicking and sharing photos on social media while dining at a restaurant was basically free publicity. Chiltern Firehouse in London said that it would be silly to stop people from using phones, as they happen to be such an integral part of our lives.
However, sushi master Endo Kazutoshi has some supporters, too. Le Gavroche in London mentions its "no phone rule" in its menu, but if someone does use their phone anyway, they "look at them as if to say: 'Switch that off or it goes in the ice bucket,'" adding that, "Most people look embarrassed, which is natural. It is called manners." Eleven Madison that says it has designated areas where phones are allowed and where people can answer calls freely.
Other restaurants stood somewhere in the middle. Restaurants like Gramercy Tavern in New York have no problem with customers using phones while dining, as long as they don't disturb others looking to enjoy a quiet meal.