I opened a new Hoppers outlet last month. New dishes, new room, a familiar mix of excitement and mild terror paired with the hope that people will like the food. On the opening night, I posted a photo of our crab kari omelette, a dish I’m particularly proud of. Within minutes, I received a message: “Share recipe.”

No please, no maybe. Just, share recipe. A sentence that somehow served as both, a compliment and a demand. As if my role, at that moment, was less than a chef or a restaurateur and more of a content-vending machine.

That small exchange sums up something bigger I’ve been circling for a while. Entitlement created by social media. How the walls between kitchens and customers, creators and audiences, have come down. And how, like most big shifts, it cuts both ways.

There was a time when access to chefs, owners and kitchens was rare. You booked a table, you ate the food, you maybe caught a glimpse of the chef if they popped out at the end of service. Feedback happened quietly, if at all. If you really felt strongly, you wrote a letter on paper, with a stamp, and hoped it reached the right hands.

Now, the kitchen door is permanently ajar. The chef is........

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