I’ve been meaning to devote a blog day to food photography, and though today might not be it, we’re going to try to do some serious dabbling. The inspiration? Serious Eats’ alarming article about amateur table-side photography possibly being banned at New York’s Momofuku Ko. The horror!

Who doesn’t want to take a quick snappy of the $32 snapper they’re about to snap up? O dear. More coffee, please.

In any case, a-list chef responses to SE’s inquiry on food photography at the table:

MARIO BATALI:

“Do you mean folks like bloggers? Our photo policy is that we do not allow lights or taking photos of other customers but do not stop joyous foodies clicking an occasional photo of the food on the table with a small camera.
If it starts to feel like a photo shoot or they flash more than twice,
we ask them to stop for the comfort of other guests. I pose with guests
for hundreds of photos a year in the resto.”

DANIEL BOULUD:

“We don’t have a policy,” Farkas (PR director for Boulud’s empire) said. “We discourage it, but we’re not
going to ban it. It’s good, when and if people have a reservation and
they know they want to take pictures, that they tell us. We can seat
them in a place that will be better for their purposes. We’ll also send
people photos of the dishes if they ask us as well. The problem comes in when the flash is going off and it affects other customers’ experiences.”

DREW NIEPORENT (think NOBU):

“No, we’re not going to stop people from taking photos,” Nieporent said. “We’d just like people to be considerate of the other people in the restaurant.”

DAVID CHANG (of Momofuku-Ko):

“It’s just food. Eat it.”

Well, Chang asked for it; Here’s a quick trip down memory lane with flickr photographer Scaredy Kat at Momofuku Ko. Cue nostalgia-inducing music. Maybe something by Kate Bush.

*note: these are snaps. not intended to be an example of professional food photography. hobbiest fare.

momofuku ko shaved foie gras with lychees and wine gelee

momofuku ko coddled egg with paddlefish caviar, onion soubise, potato chips and chervil

momofuku ko pork belly oyster and kim chee consomme

mmmm.