Chopping chives as competitive sport? Chefs are chasing a perfect score

The British chef behind the Instagram account RateMyChives — in which he judges the quality of chefs’ and home cooks’ piles of minced herbs — recalls the moment several years ago when he realized the significance of a nicely chopped chive. It came, inauspiciously, during a drunken conversation with a date.

“We’d been out for dinner, and it was a bit crap,” he said. From the first dish, he knew the meal would be a disappointment “because the chives were badly chopped.”