WEST FARGO -- Someone once said "all frisée are endives, but not all endives are frisée."

This cryptic little saying that doesn't mean much to most people, says something about Mezzaluna's entire menu whether a dish uses edive or not.

Lots of restaurants use this shaggy lettuce as a garnish for its rough-shaped leaves and bitter taste. But salmon ($37) is mild, and someone in the kitchen must have thought that the milder taste that comes with frisée, and its peppery accents, would go better with salmon that the harsher versions of endive, and its funky ruffles would hold up better on the plate than more common versions.

Or it's just a coincidence. But I doubt it.

The simple seared salmon that you can make on your own stove at medium high heat, four minutes on one side and three on the other, becomes something special with a little thought and a less common ingredient or two better matched to the main character. Add another pleasant surprise, such as romesco sauce with its bright red peppers and tomatoey base, and you have not something you can't make yourself, because you can, but something you didn't even think of.

There is a lot of this on the menu.

A mushroom bisque ($6 a cup) made with miso and parsnips is another example. It's toasty and rich and filled with the exotic taste of.... I'm not sure what kind of mushrooms. But that's the point. It's a kind of adventure you don't always encounter even in fine dining or, maybe, especially in fine dining.

Another dish you will run into before you make it to the entrees is the beef tartar ($20). By itself, it's bright with briny capers and pickles, but a cream sauce made with Castelvetrano olives and dressed with cured egg yolks adds something unique. It makes it part of a menu that seems designed to put things on your plate that you didn't expect, or didn't even know could happen.

If you're looking for something more recognizable and perhaps less adventurous, the beef rigatoncini ($30) is less of a surprise but more of a comfort dish with loads of beef in the ragu and made rich with red wine as you would expect. Perhaps what you don't expect is a little balsamic to dress the plate and add some tang.

While I'm not in the habit of singling out something on a menu that makes a restaurant's offerings distinctive, I will make a recommendation this one rare time. The wagyu zabuton ($54) is a heavily marbled, luscious cut of beef from the shoulder where the chuck comes from.

Alone, on a plate, it's a luxury. If you add a drizzle of black garlic and the punch of vinegar and chili peppers that comes straight from much farther south of the border than we're used to, it's something special.

The atmosphere is understated and refined. Mezzaluna has been in the same space for a long time with its pressed metal ceiling and heavy dark wood. These features add character, but longevity adds personality too. It can be loud but still strangely intimate. The kitschy clamshell booths are gone, but no one I talked to seemed to miss them.

Service is excellent. Servers are very familiar with the menu and, something unusual even in fine dining in Fargo, they can make meaningful wine recommendations. They give you time and space and anticipate your needs. In return, they need a little extra time, too, to prepare your food and deliver it at the right moment and at the right temperature for the entire table. So be patient.

There's not much on the menu that's cheap, but a $4 dish of house made ice cream is a bargain if it cost twice as much. If the coffee ice cream is available, buy it. You won't find better.

To many, it will come as no surprise that Mezzaluna earns 4 stars in this review. But it earns it not only for the entrees or appetizers being prepared well and served professionally. That should be expected if you're dropping $54 on a steak.

But it's the thoughtful additions, ingredients and presentations that you might not have thought about on your own but seem somehow at home on your plate -- like black garlic and cured egg yolk -- that turn the meal into a culinary voyage.