The Daily Dish: This Restaurant Locks Your Phone In A Safebox To Prevent Tableside Texting

This Restaurant Locks Your Phone in a Safebox to Prevent Tableside Texting

Tableside texting: It's an unfortunate side effect of our technology-dependent world. But one restaurant is keeping the awkward "phone-obsessed dinner companion" situation under lock and key, literally. At Tea Terrace Restaurants in London, waiters will take your device and place it in a safe disguised as a book, called a "phonetentiary," to which only they know the combination. The nifty policy is not compulsory, so it feels more like a fun gimmick rather than an eyebrow-raising dining dictatorship. "We want to bring back good old conversations," owner Rowena Shouly told Business Insider.

Yet Another 'Game of Thrones' Pop-Up Brings Us the Food and Drink of Westeros

Another day, another Game of Thrones-themed eatery. Since the premiere of HBO's bloody popular fantasy series, restaurants, bars, and special dinners inspired by the world of dragons and thieves have popped up. The latest is "Blood & Wine," an aptly named bar loosely based on Game of Thrones, located in Edinburgh, Scotland, and brought to life by The Pop Up Geeks. Bartenders will don swords and serve wine inspired by the Seven Kingdoms and The Hound's mulled wine. Blood & Wine will only stick around until the end of February, so hurry up if you want to dine with the lords and ladies of Westeros.

This Gold-Topped Trump Pizza Will Raise Money for a Homeless Shelter

New York State may not have been a fan of Donald Trump during election season, but one pizzeria owner wants to express his gratitude to the 45th president of the United States in the form of a pizza. Trump's name is spelled out on the pie in 23-karat-gold leaf, in a design that emulates the golden name atop Trump's buildings. The pizza was created by Hakki Akdeniz, 36, owner of Champion Pizza on New York's Lower East Side. The formerly homeless Turkish immigrant is selling the Trump pie — which will be topped with special reserve, $280-per-ounce Russian osetra caviar, shaved white truffles, and seven different types of cheese — for between $5,000 and $10,000, depending on the order.  The pie must be ordered in advance, and proceeds from the sale will benefit the Bowery Mission, where Akdeniz stayed for 96 days when he was homeless and the idea of opening his own business was just a dream.

Culinary Giants Jacques Pépin and Alice Waters Decry Cooking Competition Shows

Alice Waters and Jacques Pépin — two of the most iconic figures in modern gastronomy — are speaking out against the pop culture element of cooking. At a panel for the Television Critics Association press tour, during which they promoted their coming PBS documentary series Chefs Flight, Waters and Pépin decried cooking shows like Top Chef and Chopped as a "disservice" to the industry. "That's not what's cooking is all about," Pépin, the internationally renowned chef known for his non-competitive cooking shows with Julia Child, told reporters. "That kind of confrontation that you have there is not really how you learn to cook. Or how you understand food."

Chef Christina Tosi Talks Cereal, Birthday Cakes, and the Unicorn Trend

Christina Tosi is the creative culinary mastermind behind Milk Bar's sweet concoctions, a two-time James Beard Award-winning chef, and the Queen of Sweet. We caught up with her at the Kellogg's NYC cereal bar in Times Square where she demonstrated one of her cereal creations — a Baklava Bowl made with Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats, toasted walnuts, pistachios, and a drizzle of honey. Tosi is clearly a fan of colorful foods, so what does she think of the pastel-colored unicorn trend that's blown up recently? "I love the spirit of this, like there are grown-ups who are obsessed with the beauty of colorful rainbow foods and all things magical," she said.