8 Ingredients Chefs Hate To See On Their Plate When They Dine Out

Online restaurant reviews are a quick and easy way to find somewhere good to eat, but in most cases, the people posting them don't actually work in the food industry. That makes the conversations between professional cooks, which do pop up on social media from time to time, both interesting and illuminating. We know that celebrity chefs are rarely short on opinions, especially when it comes to the foods they hate. But they're not the only ones working in kitchens that have plenty to say about one particular facet of their industry: Ingredients in a dish that have no place being there.

Chefs working in a range of ordinary restaurants may not be in the glare of the entertainment spotlight, but they have just as much hands-on experience as their famous counterparts. What's more, many of them have very strong opinions about their industry. The seething rage about using wooden boards (or anything else) instead of plates is a case in point. David Lebovitz wrote that cutting food on a slate "sets my teeth on edge," but it's not just the tableware that sends some professional chefs into a tailspin when they eat out.

Arguably the bougiest of bougie additions to any dish, gold leaf has become a focal point for a lot of rage in and at the food industry. One Reddit commenter fumed that it was used "just to make some unremarkable sushi platter look social media ready." Others noted that gold leaf has no nutritional value, zero flavor, and what isn't absorbed by the body ends up flushed away.

As a finishing touch, a garnish like edible glitter can elevate a dish to new heights, whether it's adding interest, texture or flavor. But anything that cannot be eaten should never make it to the dining table, grumbling chefs agree. That half a lemon or uncooked rosemary leaves that do nothing, or sprig of mint on a dessert that doesn't even include the flavor? Ditch them all, chefs said.

Bringing nature to a plate can lead to an extraordinary foodie experience, but when it comes to edible flowers, they may look pretty, but the trend's outstayed its welcome. These bursts of color can lift many dishes, but most diners pick them off, while some chefs see them as a lack of imagination. "If you can't make the dish taste and look fabulous without them, redesign the dish," one chef grumbled.

Never a chef to mince his words, Gordon Ramsay told our sister site Tasting Table that, after 20 seconds any foams on a plate "look like your cat's puked up on it." His frank opinion about this ingredient is shared by many chefs online, some of whom think they're just a way to use the dispenser, and hope the trend will quietly fade away.

Decorating a plate has become as much of an art form as making the food itself but for a growing number of professional cooks, powdering the edge has gone way too far. Chefs who were working in kitchens during the '90s remember plates everywhere being dusted with paprika for no good reason, while seeing cacao or different kinds of sugar on the plate rim has become equally as irritating.

It takes a lot of skill to create a burst of flavor from a tiny dot of sauce, and microgreens can deliver a similar taste explosion — when they are used appropriately. Professional cooks despair when they are scattered onto a plate like "confetti," or find their way into every dish on the menu, arguing microgreens have become a shortcut to flavor, or a sop to a trend.

While not as divisive as some of the ingredients we've listed, there is still a healthy percentage of chefs who are enraged when they see the tails left on otherwise shelled and expertly deveined shrimp. If they are part of a finger-food dish, then it's perfectly acceptable — but in a plated recipe? Absolutely not. "Don't make me go digging in arrabiata at the table," one chef quipped.

We're finishing where we started, at the bougie end of the ingredients list, and for many chefs, truffle oil is one ingredient they can happily live without (Martha Stewart especially despises using it). While truffle zest and real truffles were considered good ingredients, truffle oil was overused, smelled like dirty socks, and described in this Reddit thread as "hot garbage juice" and "greasy dirt". As far as chefs are concerned, truffle oil doesn't make your dish more fancy.