Eater:
Diners at Hearth, the newly health-conscious, 13-year-old restaurant from James Beard award-winning chef Marco Canora, may have noticed a new addition to their place settings in recent weeks. Next to plates, napkins, and utensils there are now boxes. Some are old cigar boxes, others kitschy Etsy finds — but all of them are big enough to contain a few cell phones, because the boxes are Canora’s solution to what he views as harmful cell phone addiction.
I like this idea rather than the mentioned bans or discounts. It also reminds me of the joke: “Want me to put my iPhone down? Be more interesting than my iPhone…”
Some Chick-Fil-A locations have been doing this for some time. I’m a fan.
https://thechickenwire.chick-fil-a.com/Inside-Chick-fil-A/All-Cooped-Up-How-One-Chick-fil-A-Operator-Is-Redefining-the-Phrase
Optional rule: If anyone opens the box during the meal to check their phone they have to pay for the whole table.
I generally like to dine with people for whom I’ll want to pay anyway. 🙂
Cute, but not interested.
“Oh, you want to show me something interesting? Not now, there’s a box on the table!
Want to ask the world for information about something we were discussing? No! We must pretend it’s 2006!”