Photo ban in Melbourne restaurants?

So it appears from popular media that some Melbourne restaurants - including the likes of Grossi Florentino's - are hesitant about patrons taking photos of their food.  We guess that if they were to allow picture taking, then every dish they send over the pass would have to be perfect....
Think that through... Yeah, exactly my point... So then, what do the good restaurants have to fear?
We can understand that patrons need to be considerate of others, and flash-photography or staging plates and making a fuss over picture taking is not nice for anyone nearby trying to have a quiet romantic meal. That said, mobile phones on silent being used to take a quick snap of a plate are no more intrusive for others at nearby tables than the "fb check-in" process, or a quick call to a mate, or heaven forbid the singing of "happy birthday" to someone...

Photography in a clothes store? That's a whole different story, and depends on the intention of the photo. Being cynical, shops probably don't want you sending photos of you trying on clothes to your friends, in case your friends might actually tell you the truth about how large your posterior looks in that dress (and perhaps you won't buy it).
In terms of protection of intellectual property, it is understandable that many clothes shops don't want you to copy their designs - which for a good tailor is quite easy to do from a photograph (visit Hoi An in Vietnam and pop into any of the many tailors to see this process in action). The shops say this, and then put out full-colour glossy photos of their best designs in fashion magazines.. Hypocrisy much? Accepting this line of argument that you might 'copy' the item, the big issue then becomes: if you buy the clothes, are you obliged to NEVER have your photo taken in those clothes, and never allow a tailor to see those clothes, in case they make a copy? We would argue "No", because your purchase of the item entitles you to its fair use.

And so we come back to the food. Purchase of the meal should entitle you to enjoy it in any way you see fit. Eating it, smelling it, looking at it, smearing it all over your hairy uncle's back, should you so desire. How long you look at it, how slowly you chew it, whether you expose it to film or a CCD, should not matter. To copy a dish would require the recipe - a list of all the ingredients, which can only be determined by taste and smell (admittedly it helps to be able to see the dish for the dead give-away items on the plate, too). A photo tells a thousand words, true, but to be able to copy a good dish you really need to taste and smell it. I'll spell out that glaringly obvious next ridiculous step of logic to avoid copying dishes: perhaps then nobody should be allowed to taste any of the dishes in a restaurant, because this is the one way that the ingredients might be copied.... Come on, guys.


JustDegusting will continue to snap away, and be sure that if any restaurant objects, we will - in no uncertain terms - make it known through our blog and review web sites that the pic ban is in place at that eatery, perhaps because food quality is not consistently up to par.
Could we be forced into a first ever walk-out?!!  Now THAT would be an interesting story!