Diners can't do without smartphones, so restaurants are (mostly) tapping into the spirit
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A few restaurants try to discourage the use of cell phones, but the rise of the smartphone, with its multiple functions, has made accommodation more practical for some restaurant owners.
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LOS ANGELES -- Ding. Bzzzt. Bap. Beep. That's the sound of conversation in restaurants these days. Where cell phones once posed a nuisance as people chatted loudly into them during meals, smartphones now present a whole new set of etiquette issues as entire tables disappear into the Internet via small glowing screens.
Like an analog world-munching Pac-Man, the modern smartphone has morphed into instant messenger, mailbox, camera, flashlight, computer, map, dictionary, newspaper, personal assistant and social media portal. And as such its use at the table has become so prevalent that "restaurants are now forced to incorporate how to deal with them into the sequence of service and table maintenance," says Eric Rosenfeld, the general manager of the lush trattoria Il Covo, in Mid-City Los Angeles, which has begun offering diners small plates to hold their phones in order to shield them from potential spills and dinner debris.
Some fine dining restaurants frown upon cellphone use -- at Patina, the menu requests, "This restaurant is a quiet haven from the stress and tumult of everyday life. Please help us by turning your cell phone to vibrate while dining." And a few places, such as Sushi Nozawa, go as far as to post "no cell phone" signs. But most restaurants, like Il Covo, are finding ways to address what many consider the new reality of our fast-paced digital era while at the same time working to encourage diners to stay involved with their dining companions.
"If a diner would like to have their phone on the table, we want to protect it as much as possible," Mr. Rosenfeld says, adding that many restaurants in Los Angeles even keep a discreet stash of iPhone and BlackBerry chargers on hand and train servers on how and when to approach a diner on a phone and what to do if a phone is in the way when it comes time to deliver a plate. (The hard and fast rule is never put your hands on another man's phone.)
That's the practical side. There is also the matter of manners, and when it comes to that thorny issue, most people will tell you that using a phone at the table is not polite while simultaneously admitting to being guilty of having used their phone at the table. It's a form of digital hypocrisy that has foodies chatting, both online and off.
Or so it seemed to friends John Purcell, a lawyer, and Katie Sticksell, a restaurant manager, who recently coined the term "reciprocell" in the Urban Dictionary. Reciprocell refers to the behavior that opens the door to all of that tableside chirping, humming and busy cell phone buzzing.
"We noticed that once one person at the table took out their phone, instead of complaining, everyone else sort of did it," Mr. Purcell says of the word and its definition, which is, "The act of checking one's email after a companion has pulled his or her BlackBerry or iPhone out first. Often used when one is initially afraid of being criticized for checking the phone."
The blithe wink-and-nod conjured by the word "reciprocell" pretty much sums up most people's feeling about the issue: It's simply part of the wireless fabric of 21st century living, one worthy of examination and in dire need of a digital-era Emily Post.
"It's a busy world now, so it's hard to tell people to not text when they have so much business going on and so many business dinners," says celebrity chef Kerry Simon of Simon L.A. and Simon Restaurant & Lounge at Palms Casino in Las Vegas. "What are you going to do? You can't dictate to diners how to behave."
That's why an outright cell phone ban at restaurants is unlikely, says Christian Page, the chef of Short Order at the original Farmers Market in LA.
"The phone is part of the place setting now," Mr. Page says. "When people sit down, they put their phone down somewhere, too."
Mr. Page says that what people do at his restaurant on their own time is their own business, but when he's out with someone, particularly a date, he'd prefer she keep her phone out of sight.
Plus, if a diner is constantly submerged in his or her phone, it's difficult to provide good service, which by its very definition must be interactive, says Paige Reilly, the manager of the beer program at Echo Park's Mohawk Bend and Tony's Darts Away in Burbank, Calif. She relates a story about two men she once saw who did not talk to each other at dinner more than once but constantly showed each other text messages that they were sending to other people.
"I think by the time it was over, I was laughing out loud," she says.
Cell phones aren't always a distraction, though, says Jerry Garbus, general manager of M.B. Post in Manhattan Beach, Calif. They can also provide a useful way of connecting with others while dining.
"The cell phone in our dining room is a seamless thing," Mr. Garbus says. "We've had guests literally reading a review on Yelp and ordering what was in the review during service."
Diners at M.B. Post also regularly check in at the restaurant on Facebook via their phones (the restaurant has nearly 1,500 Facebook check-ins).
"It creates a unique and fun environment. I'm friends with many of our guests, and when someone checks in I can see it on my phone and go and say hello," Mr. Garbus says.
First Published February 9, 2012 12:00 am
