Already with a solid foundation built over the past couple of years, Middle Eastern restaurant Nour (Arabic for ‘light’) has nabbed an A-grade chef and the proof of his skill is in the pudding – and every course for that matter.

New executive chef Ben Williamson has arrived from the Sunshine State having made his former restaurant, Gerard’s Bistro, one of the best in Brisbane. Armed with an intuitive mastery of Middle Eastern cookery, he’s teamed up with new head chef Mike Dierlinger (ex-Bridge Room) and together they’re bringing a new level of refinement to this vibrant cuisine.

Nour’s fit-out remains the same, all dusky pastels and blond wood, the wine list is adventurous and accessible, and the service as sincere as it is proficient.

Which sets the scene for the magic of a chef at the height of his powers. From the lengthy mezze list, charred dill cucumbers partner wonderfully with light handmade shanklish – a cow’s milk cheese formed into balls and rolled through herbs. Sweet confit peppers nicely offset creamy fava beans and albacore basturma accented with a rich crustacean oil. It’s one of the best things I’ve eaten this year. Then again, perhaps the mini ‘chicken bits’ (liver, hearts) shawarma, with sumac pickled onions and toum, fits the bill, too. I could eat 10 of them.

Lamb collar slowly roasted in the wood-fired oven comes with a trickle of carob molasses and mujaddara (a classic dish of lentils, rice and onions), while whipped feta, hazelnuts, king oyster mushrooms and zhug (green hot sauce) crown a risotto-like freekeh polow.

The magic-carpet ride doesn’t stop there. Silky salt-baked pineapple is layered over a disc of basbousa semolina cake and topped with a quenelle of cardamom ice-cream. It’s a triumph.

Williamson’s culinary nous is sure shining a new light on the menu at Nour and bringing it into tight focus.