Should phone-obsessed diners be forced to stop scrolling? Not if restaurants want to stay open

‘It is precisely this primal need to broadcast nice meals that we’ve eaten that is keeping the restaurant industry alive.’ Photograph: Oscar Wong/Getty Images

Giorgio Locatelli despairs of diners who spend more time scrolling on their phones than “enjoying the moment”. The Michelin-starred chef told a podcast it was sad diners weren’t interacting with each other more. But the real question is: is any restaurant experience more enjoyable than a video of grumpy cats?

I was taught to believe that the customer is always right. The premise of this idea is simple: a customer pays money to receive goods or services, and in return a business must move mountains to ensure they receive them. The customer is sacred, in other words.