Hospitality Beyond the Plate: Why Photos Matter More Than Ever

It struck me recently how much dining out has changed. The food, of course, is still at the heart of the experience — but for many people, the photo of the food (or of the group at the table) is just as important, if not more so. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve watched people spend five, ten, sometimes fifteen minutes rearranging plates, finding the right angle, and testing filters, while their meal quietly goes cold. In today’s world, the photo is the memory, and often what gets shared is more valuable than the dish itself.

This is exactly why I usually prefer to take a selfie rather than ask a waiter to take a group photo. Nine times out of ten, the result isn’t great: too much headroom, poor lighting, someone cropped out on the side. And when that happens, I simply don’t use the photo — the moment is lost, and the memory isn’t shared.

But recently, at Gloria Milano, I had an experience that flipped this on its head. We asked our waiter to take a photo, and instead of just quickly snapping one, he paused. He cleared the table of clutter, moved the small lamp to act as a fill light, and framed us properly in both portrait and landscape. The photos he took were sharp, balanced, and beautifully composed. For the first time in a long time, I looked at a waiter-taken photo and thought: I’d happily share this.

Landscape version of the photo taken by our waiter

That moment made me realise something: restaurants should think of this as part of the service. Just as staff are trained to carry plates gracefully, pour wine correctly, or explain a menu with confidence, why shouldn’t they also be trained to capture a guest’s memory well? A short session on the basics — framing, lighting, composition — could transform what is usually a throwaway request into a lasting impression.

It’s not just about the guest either. Every photo that gets shared is free marketing. The better the photo, the more likely it is to be posted, tagged, and seen. And in a world where people sometimes value the photo more than the food itself, that’s worth paying attention to.

Hospitality has always been about more than what’s on the plate. It’s about how a place makes you feel, and increasingly, how a place looks when captured on a phone screen. At Gloria, I left with a memory I was proud to share — not just because of the food, but because someone cared enough to frame the moment properly. And in today’s world, that might be the detail that counts the most.