Newfoundland Dogs

I’m not sure if this is a behavior problem, because I have three large Newfoundland dogs and they are generally very well behaved. However, I refuse to eat in front of them because they crowd me, get into my space, try to counter surf, and I worry about tripping over them. So when I eat, I put them in another room behind a gate and move out of sight. The issue is that they start barking as soon as I disappear. When I step back into view, they stop, but as soon as I leave again, they start barking all over. They only do this when I’m eating. It almost feels like a controlling situation, and it’s really annoying. At this point, the only way I deal with it is by putting on headphones and walking away, but I don’t know how to actually get it to stop. Any advice? :,)