Craig Silverman

At Montreal’s Spirite Lounge restaurant one is expected to eat all of the food on one’s plate. One is also served what the chef decides, and the chef does his best to ensure one never eats the same dish twice. One must accept these parameters if one seeks to dine at Spirite Lounge, a word-of-mouth eating experience on Ontario Street (East).

Rozman, the owner and chef of Spirite Lounge, also has another strict requirement that has been in place since he opened his doors five years ago.

“Cell phones are not allowed,” says Rozman. “People are asked to turn them off when they enter. My place is a theatre, so you have to enjoy the show.”

Though they are now a ubiquitous technology, cell phones are still comparatively new, and the laws of etiquette that govern their use are still being formed. Some of these laws are ending up on the books, while others manifest themselves as social decrees. Some transgressions will get you a fine; others will earn you dirty looks.

Talking on a cell phone while driving and not using a headset is quickly becoming illegal in cities, states, provinces and some countries. Hong Kong banned it years ago. New York has issued over 50,000 tickets since instituting its law in November of 2001. In Montreal, drivers can’t turn right on red, but are free to chat away with a phone held to their head. Montrealers are now also familiar with the “please turn off your cell phones and pagers “ spiel at the beginning of any movie. Common courtesy holds that one should turn off their phone (or at the very least set it to vibrate) before any performance.

Restaurants, though, appear to be another matter. Rozman believes the experience at his restaurant is akin to “theatre” and so he has enforced a rule similar to that held in conventional theatres. But few other Montreal eateries have enacted similarly strict policies, preferring to rely on the etiquette and courtesy of their patrons.

“If phone rings we take it away from them and make them bend over,” jokes Moishe’s Steak House owner Larry Lighter. “Generally, most people have been very polite about it. Years ago they would ring and ring because it was a novelty. But now they don’t ring much in the dining room.”

The Zagat Restaurant Guides, which are handy and definitive bibles on eating the world over, once commissioned a survey and found that cell-free dining was a top concern for both customers and proprietors. When asked about the importance of smoke-free and phone-free dining 95 per cent of respondents wanted a separate room for them.

"It’s an issue that seems to be a hot button among dining patrons," Mike Sheinfield, vice president of corporate communications for Zagat told one publication. "The majority would prefer a cell phone-free section."

Yet that seems to be a far-off possibility.

“We don’t have a problem,” says Jason Nelsons, the chef of Carmel, a fusion eatery in Outremont. “A lot of diners don’t seem to really use cell phones in the restaurant.”

“We don’t have any policy because I don’t think we have ever had to ask someone to be quiet or turn off their phone,” says one waitress at Mess Hall in Westmont. “You get one or two [who are rude], but the majority will go to the washroom or front entrance. I guess we just have good customers.”

Indeed, many restaurants contacted pointed out their lack of a policy as a sign that their clientele are polite and sophisticated. (Though McDonald’s also lacks any cell policy.) Stories of rude patrons do, however, abound. One person recounted a tale of a waitress trying to serve a gentleman who was speaking on his phone. When she began to speak to the table, he interrupted his call to demand that she return when “I don’t have someone better to talk to!”

Mark Shields, an assistant professor of technology,

culture and communications at the University of Virginia has studied the cell phone and its effect on humans and society. He says rude cell users are likely rude in other areas of life as well.

“One can assume that new technologies will alter our practices, but not the fundamental root of our human bio-social nature…chances are these people are rude anyway in their behavior,” says Shields. “Technology doesn’t cause behavior — it enables us to alter or transform existing practices.”

Rozman takes a very simple view of the problem.

“If you want to talk someone else, go meet them,” he says. “In Los Angeles, maybe half of the restaurants ban phones. In some, they have a phone check along with the coat check, and if your phone rings, they will take a message for you. That’s class. I’m not there yet.”
Yet he’s still far ahead of the curve.