Would you hand in your phone at the door in exchange for a free bottle of wine? One restaurateur has tried that – and there are now many other gambits that are encouraging us to connect

Name: Phone bans.

Age: Their provenance is considerable; their time is now.

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© Photograph: Tony Smith/Alamy

© Photograph: Tony Smith/Alamy

© Photograph: Tony Smith/Alamy

Consumers are increasingly encountering AI-generated images on food menus such as leathery meat and bread resembling reptile skin

During a recent lunch break, Jill Sennett saw something so unappetizing she had to share it with her 26,000 X followers: Artificial intelligence-generated menu images from a Jamaican barbecue pop-up restaurant in which the meats looked like leather belts crawling with tiny beetles.

The images were reshared by more than 500 people who similarly expressed their disgust. Eating is “such an essential human experience”, said Sennett, a 37-year-old nurse in Denver. “I think it’s a bad cultural thing that restaurants are converting to these horrific, uncanny food images that are unappetizing.”

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© Photograph: Lisa Bonos

© Photograph: Lisa Bonos

© Photograph: Lisa Bonos

The affected products were shipped starting June 29 and have expiration dates through Aug. 3.

Backed by Alexis Ohanian’s 776 and Kindred Ventures, Zest uses transaction data and AI to generate restaurant recommendations based on users’ real dining habits and the places they frequent.