1. Impure truffle oil. Gourmands treasure the indescribably complex aroma of truffles, and understandably so. In the effort to offer their clients a taste of the good life at a reasonable price, many chefs have taken to finishing their dishes with a lashing of moderately priced truffle oil. But cheap truffle oil is inexpensive for a reason: it’s almost always produced using a chemical flavouring—2,4-dithiapentane—a pretender to the throne and no substitute for the king of fungi.

2. Guilty fish. Many diners now expect responsibly raised and slaughtered meat, and some restaurants have responded. Yet knowledge of the issues surrounding seafood—from environmental damage to near extinction—remains woefully low. Trumpeting the virtue of organic beef and poultry seems disingenuous when they’re offered alongside such endangered fish as monkfish and Chilean sea bass. Jamie Kennedy swims against the current, not only by refusing to serve irresponsibly caught fish, but also by actively raising awareness, even encouraging diners to carry a pocket guide to inform their choices.

3. Molecular gastronomy. Call it “foam fatigue,” but there’s a backlash brewing against molecular gastronomy. Like all revolutions, this one has its excesses: poorly conceived and dreadfully executed flavour pairings; a tendency toward gee-whiz gimmickry; and, yes, a sometimes-overwhelming penchant for garnishing every dish with a foam or air. Only time will tell whether this trend will thrive in its best—that is, its purest, most experimental—form.

4. Undercooking. Remember when “al dente” was a term applied only to pasta? Well, no more. Toothsomeness has become an obsession with a dark side: undercooking. Rare is the new medium rare, and rarer still is the legume cooked all the way through. Though red meat is an id-stoking delight, and a certain degree of resistance is essential in a noodle and some vegetables, the line must be drawn at beans, some of which are now served so firm they retain a chalky texture that’s hard to swallow and even harder to digest.

5. Eating local. Cult-like devotion to food sourced from within 100 kilometres of the dining table can go too far, especially in a region where seasonal winter cuisine means root vegetables, apples and pickled veggies pulled out of the cellar. The locavore’s dilemma, if I can call it that, is in finding a balance between pleasure, health and environmental responsibility, especially when ingredients from the other side of the world can be fresher and have a smaller ecological footprint than the many good things that grow in Ontario. Besides, in an age where restaurants charge top dollar for their dishes, don’t patrons have a right to expect the best quality ingredients regardless of their provenance?