Smith Street, Fitzroy. Of course. Flinders Lane, sizzling. Johnston St, Collingwood, is gaining traction by the day. But High Street in Armadale? When it comes to Melbourne’s hottest eat streets the leafy east rarely gets a look in. But that’s where Clinton McIver has hung out his shingle for his first, grown-up solo adventure.

He has form turning up in unlikely places. We last saw him serving up, if only briefly, Melbourne’s most destination degustation at the Clayton Bowls Club, where it was raised-pinkie cooking served on Formica tables.

Here at Amaru, the ex-Vue de monde chef is again treading the set-price, no-choice boards; within the stylishly simple, elegant and intimate 30-seater you’ll be served a dozen-odd courses for $120 a head.

It’s just got serious. But so did his cooking.

From three snacks that hit the table soon after seating – a gelatinous rich wallaby dumpling, crab on a salted crisp topped with iced macadamia cream, and ricotta studded with baby peas and salted peach – through to the show-stopping mozzarella ice cream to end, there’s a clever interplay of textures and temperatures throughout the meal that is, on the whole, considered and restrained and outrageously delicious.

A focus on Australian ingredients and low-miles produce never comes across as a tub-thumping mission statement, while a low-waste philosophy makes as much sense on the plate as it does to the kitchen’s bottom line.

Quiveringly fresh, translucent marron served with a texturally rich, parmesan-softened sunflower seeds sings of the sweet sea, while its head is used to create a butter sauce in which season’s best tomatoes swim, with bursts of muntries for company.

A beetroot “terrine” – a bridging course between middle and end of night – shows both originality and technical skills, with earthy beet slow cooked until sweet then wafer-sliced and served with preserved blueberries with a complementary earthy funkiness.

Duck – the only red meat of the night – also gets aged in house, the crisp-edged pink meat with a slight gaminess comes sheathed in a sticky wisp of pear leather, the sweetness offset by apple-cooked radicchio with a proper bitter bite.

And that dessert? Buffalo milk churned into cold-set cream comes with a dimple filled with fruity cold-pressed olive oil that bathe sun-dried wild strawberries, the lot finished with a sprinkling of olive dust. It’s at once creamy and cold, salty and sweet. It’s a triumph.

While you can double down on the matched sommelier selection for another $150 a head – and you will be well watered from all around the world – the tight list also has great drinking should you simply want to share a $60 bottle. Service, from McIver’s partner Ali Rolim Correa, is as gracefully welcoming and patently proud as you’d expect from a first-time owner-operator duo.

McIver’s Amaru is just one of a slew of new openings from our next generation of exciting chefs cooking with ambition: Peter Gunn has just opened Ides, while Aaron Turner’s Igni is turning heads down in Geelong. It’s an exciting time to be eating all around Victoria. Get stuck in.