Are we making a meal out of the foodie conversation?

After a food vlogger was kicked out of Borough Market for filming a review on his phone, Hannah Twiggs fears for the hospitality sector's love/hate relationship with social media

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It was going to happen eventually. After years of free meals, fawning posts and fluorescent ring lights, restaurants are finally starting to turn on the monster they helped create. Like Frankenstein, hospitality built its influencer economy from scratch - feeding it, nurturing it, basking in the fame that followed - only to recoil when it grew too powerful to control.

The tipping point came last week at Borough Market, when a food vlogger was thrown out mid-review. In a video that's since been widely shared, Gerry del Guercio, one half of the duo Bite Twice, is seen filming himself and his friend eating an apple and cinnamon crumble when a security guard interrupts to tell them to stop recording. Del Guercio looks bewildered. “Are we being kicked out of Borough Market?” he asks incredulously during the kerfuffle.

The clip, filmed earlier this year on a smartphone rather than professional equipment, shows no ring lights, microphones or freebies - just two mates who've paid for their food, chatting casually about it on camera. It reignited debate over whether influencers have finally outstayed their welcome in London's most famous food market - or whether the market itself is overreaching.

According to Borough Market, there's no ban on filming, just rules, which were quietly implemented last year. Anyone wanting to shoot content for commercial purposes - that is, anything beyond a casual selfie or home video - must now apply for permission in advance and carry a letter of approval. Filming is prohibited at weekends, the market's busiest period, and security are within their rights to stop anyone without clearance.

With more than 20 million visitors a year - roughly 55,000 a day - it's easy to see the logic. Tripods, gimbals and crowds of gawkers don't mix well with hot oil and narrow aisles. Still, for many online, the footage struck a nerve. Isn't this meant to be a public market? Isn't sharing food what Borough is all about?