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Visit fun and unforgettable — and quite possibly the best thing I ate all year.

The element of nostalgia is central to Adams’ menu, and several items on the small and shared plates list (divided into “hot” and “cold”) are iterations of signature dishes honed throughout his career. But a big part of what makes dining here so remarkable is that the menu is constantly changing: During a four-month period, Adams estimates he experimented with roughly 100 different dishes.

Meals are punctuated by plates that not only pair texture and flavor, but also pop with color, from a starter of charcoal-hued Japanese milk bread served with ramp salt and cultured butter ($8) to a bright bouquet of crudites ($15), which arrive nestled in a creamy goat’s milk ricotta sprinkled with dill pollen.

Several items employ a playful, hands-on approach: A plate of cold, ground pork with fermented kohlrabi ($17) comes showered with crispy garlic chips and sesame seeds and is served with large lettuce leaves for wrapping, the extra squeeze of fresh lime or scoop of chili paste left up to the diner’s discretion.

Make-your-own bao buns ($48) present an equally thrilling choose-your-own-adventure setup, with warm, soft buns served alongside crispy-skinned pieces of tender cold-smoked and roasted Rohan duck with crisp slices of pear, fermented turnips, scallions sliced on the bias and a syrupy house hoisin sauce. It’s a dish that’s fun, messy and completely delicious.

At left, cold, ground pork with fermented kohlrabi is topped with garlic chips and sesame seeds and served with lettuce leaves for wrapping. Below, workers prep for dinner.

There are some dishes that wouldn’t feel as seasonally appropriate in the Northeast but fit in just fine here. A plate of heirloom cherry tomatoes ($14) lives on the menu yearround. Served with a thick and tangy tzatziki sauce with feta, the tomatoes taste just as lovely on a balmy November afternoon as they do in July or August.

And though Meliora isn’t a seafood-centric restaurant, there are several references to the Gulf of Mexico’s bounty, including beautiful rice paper prints of indigenous fish hanging in the dining room and an excellent tuna dish ($18), which uses local yellowfin supplied by a small fishing operation in Cortez near Anna Maria Island. The kitchen dry-ages the fish before topping it with fried ginger and nestling it in an umami-packed sauce with tamari and hot ginger oil, showered in scallions and sesame seeds.

Cocktails also enjoy a certain level of stagecraft here: The bubbly and refreshing Merriweather ($16) comes topped with one of those wobbling smoke bubbles du jour, while other quaffs incorporate live fire (the Shenandoah, $18) or emerge from underneath glass domes, cloaked in sage-scented smoke (the Smudge Stick, $15).

As with everything here, the experience feels like something to behold and to admire, then to enjoy.

Meliora is open for dinner Tuesday to Saturday from 5 to 9 p.m. 1920 Hillview St., Sarasota. 941-444-7692. meliorarestaurant.com.

Helen Freund is the Tampa Bay Times food and dining critic.