Oh, I hate restaurants that take themselves so seriously. Honestly, it's food. Have fun. This doesn't mean you can't have amazing and even very intricate dishes, but it does mean the restaurant needs to be a happy place. If I want serious I'll go to church.

Personally, I think you did fine with the salad. I sometimes think the reason chefs put out dishes like that is so they can scoff at the patrons who fail to read their minds at how to eat them.