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The best thing to ever happen to dating is the discovery of LTE on our smartphones. Personally, I believe that every single person who ever went on a first date in 2003 or prior is an absolute hero, because without my iPhone to save the day, I don’t think I ever could have made it through a dinner. From Instagramming my $14 specialty cocktail to texting 9-1-1 to a friend during a horrible date or scrolling during an awkward silence, having my phone as a dinner companion has saved my butt more times than I’d like to admit. However, if you want to get a meal at London’s Tea Terrace Restaurants and Tea Rooms, be prepared to lose your safety net because they will literally lock away your phone until you leave the restaurant.
If you want somewhere you can be distracted by emails and push notifications in case your date tries to start telling you about how much he lifts, you’ll want to avoid this restaurant at all costs since they lock your phone away in a “phonetentiary” upon your arrival. Of course, that sounds absolutely horrible, so to keep the vibe, these horrible phone cages are built within hollowed-out books so you can still have the appearance of a pleasant evening while actually dying inside because you can’t check your Instagram notifications.
Of course, the purpose behind this is to get patrons to put down their phones and focus on the dining experience and the company they’re surrounded with, although personally, that sounds absolutely horrible to me. I don’t want 90 minutes of undivided attention with anyone in any circumstance, much less in a situation where I have to sit and awkwardly wait on my food order to arrive. If this sounds appealing to you, by all means, take a trip – however, you’ll find me at your local Starbucks wirelessly connected to between 2 and 4 devices at all times and enjoying my plugged-in dining experience that foregoes any element of human interaction. That, to me, is what relaxation sounds like. .
[via Food & Wine]
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Steph W.
Steph W. is a new Master's degree graduate with an intern's salary and six-figure taste. She realizes her expectations far exceed reality, so she spends her days pinning away Loubs she pretends are in her physical closet instead of her virtual one. Her hobbies include attempting to trapping her boyfriend into marriage before he finds out how insane she is and pretending that Black Box wine tastes as good as the kind she could afford when she was gainfully employed. Send her tips for getting out of student debt at recruitchairtsm@gmail.com
@therecruitchair
The irony behind being anti-social with technology is that the root of our experience is desire for interaction with others. Reading an article someone wrote, texting, tweeting so that others hear us, instagramming so people know what we eat; these are the only reasons why we devote hours on hours to clicking a box so the magical lights move the way we want them to.
Not that I’m arguing being technologically wired is a GOOD thing. I just think it’s interesting. Been watching way too much Black Mirror.
It’s coming out day on Grandex.
It’s good to increase social sense. I think the restaurant is very interesting.
When I go out to lunch with my cousins, I have everyone stack their phones up in the center of the table. First one to grab their phone pays for the whole meal. My 14yo cousin thought I was bluffing. Paying for 8 people sucks when you are 14.