Mobiles banned from the table at posh restaurant!

I am certainly not against mobile phones as such – they have delivered massive benefits to millions of people worldwide but – I am definitely against their indiscriminate, 24/7 use. (And, by the way, I am very keen for all those clever scientists to find a way of transmitting the information that we receive on our phones in a way that is less potentially damaging to human health.) So I am very happy to recruit any assistance on offer – even if it is only on the basis of etiquette!

So welcome to the cause Chef Richard Turner of Turners very smart restaurant at in Harborne, just outside Birmingham. (Here is a pic of something peculiarly yummy – but probably not freefrom – being constructed in Turners’ kitchen.)

Chef Turner has decreed that, during the Birmingham Food Fest which  runs for a week from tomorrow (July 13th) restaurant guests should desist from using their phones, especially their Blackberries or iPhones.

‘Research commissioned by Birmingham Food Fest showed that over one in ten people use a smart phone while eating their dinner, while 52 per cent of adults don’t even bother cutting up their food properly. When dining out at a restaurant, four in ten adults would think nothing of using a smart phone, making calls, texting and checking emails.’

“Dining out,” said Chef Turner, “shouldn’t be an extension of the desk and I don’t think it’s asking much for people to keep their mobile phones off the dinner table. Mealtimes, whether that’s eating out or dining at home, should be about savouring food and enjoying the company of the people you are with – it’s not about sending emails, reading your texts or updating your Facebook profile.”

Not to mention subjecting both yourself and your fellow diners to yet another couple of hours of debilitating  electrosmog. Good on yah, Chef Turner – and may there be more like you!