TikTok Was Skeptical About This Single Leaf Salad In Santa Monica

While Italy might be the best country for fine dining (at least according to Guy Fieri), the United States is no stranger to that culinary category either. However, if you're not used to eating in high-end establishments, the experience can be kind of strange at first. There are a bunch of bizarre etiquette rules you should be aware of, first off. There is also the cuisine itself. In an age when chefs create food to express their creativity, some plates can leave you scratching your head. Case in point? A single leaf salad at Santa Monica eatery Seline, just one of 15 to 18 courses in its seasonal tasting menu.

@thediningdolls

This single leaf is the best salad I've had in my life at 📍Seline restaurant in Santa Monica

♬ original sound – Rostislava Garofano

One content creator on TikTok visited the restaurant and tried it, calling it the "best salad I've had in my life." It consists of a single wild mustard green leaf, dipped in passionfruit juice, and then dunked in a vat of what is presumably liquid nitrogen for a quick freeze, with a finishing sprinkle of ginger sugar. But despite the taster's glowing review, the comment section on this video was not, as it happens, eating it up. "I'm sorry it's beautiful but acting like a single leaf is delicious is hilarious," one commenter posted. Another responded, saying that they feel like chefs make dishes like this to see if people can be tricked into trying them. A third remarked jokingly, "You can't legally call that a salad," followed by police car emojis.

The single-leaf salad isn't the only menu item that is taking flack from the Internet. In the r/FineDining subreddit, an OP created a thread to impart their own experience at the restaurant. They wrote an exhaustive review of such dishes as a warm mushroom soup, braised leeks with banana and fennel puree, grilled sea bass, parts of the squab. The tasting menu at Seline, as mentioned, changes seasonally, with a focus on ingredients that are fresh in Southern California at a given time in the year, and it's flat-priced at $295, not counting drinks, taxes, or tip. However, the accompanying photos the OP provided did nothing to whet the commenters' appetites.

One person responded simply that the food looked depressing, while another said, "Empty bowl, water, a bowl of dirt. Is this place a prison?" More than a few people took issue with the plating, too. The OP did mention that they are not the best photographer, and emphasized how delicious everything was. They also clapped back at the plating comments, calling the food arrangement "beautiful in its own way." Fine dining clearly isn't for everyone (after all, you have to know specifically how to hold your glassware at fancy restaurants), and while Seline is taking all the heat here, around the world, restaurants are serving up even more jaw-dropping, eye-popping dishes than this Santa Monica spot.