In French, Ôter means to remove, or take off. A year after opening, that’s what Tom Hunter, Kate and Mykal Bartholomew (of Coda/ Tonka) have done to their modern-French bistro, shedding the veal head, gizzards and liver bits that arrived when it opened to critical acclaim, but some public disdain.

So it’s off with the offal and out with the unapologetically polarising stance, including the menu written in French, and in with new chef Jordan Clay and a reimagining of a with-it eatery.

That’s not to say it’s all gone the way of onion soup and duck a l’orange. But now you’ll see hot sauce and poutine sharing the stage with tartare, bisque and Chantilly cream.

The principles of French hospitality remain true with touches like crunchy baguette spread with churned butter rich with buttermilk, while a Spring Bay mussel served in its cooking broth with soft poached leek shows the kitchen’s restrained elegance and flavour-first philosophy.

A new focus on vegetables – charred broccoli stalks with macadamia cream, golden beets with smoked egg – doesn’t detract from the carnivore pleasures this sexy basement space still provides.

An exceptional lamb tartare, the fine dice of meat amped with a touch of heart, comes with a punch of nettle and horseradish. Meanwhile, rubycoloured, coffee-rubbed kangaroo loin is perfectly accompanied by a puckering, sweet-sharp, raspberry ketchup. A thin potato crisp dusted in sumac, plus braised and grilled radish complete a plate that’s near perfect.

Wines still focus on small French, natural producers and, while they tend to the high end, you can be sure you’ll be poured something that’s not euphemistically “interesting” but instead delicious. A year in, Oter looks set to take off. Again.