It’s not every restaurant that sees your chef pounding spices in a large mortar and pestle, on full display in her shiny, fully open kitchen. Even a giant rice steamer is on show, cunningly embedded in the central kitchen bench that’s right at the heart of the action in this boldly beautiful, off-the-track eatery. With shades of burnt orange, burgundy and brilliant blue, exposed brick and stainless steel walls, and a line of spice jars on shelves, this is one pretty special-looking place.

Actually, there’s plenty that’s special about Annita Potter’s brand new venture. Not least that it’s her first (apart from a series of between-pandemic pop-ups) since heading up the kitchen for global Australian-Thai chef legend, David Thompson, at Sydney’s Long Chim, Aaharn in Hong Kong and other worldwide Thompson enterprises. Like Thompson, Potter is an Aussie (Perth-born) who has embraced and adopted the intricacies of true Thai cuisine.

So, despite the slightly confusing name (“Viand is pronounced ‘vee-and’, and it just means food,” says Potter), Thai is the cuisine of choice here, currently as a tasting-menu only ($145 or $120 for a vegetarian version).

In case you’re hesitating, there’s nothing quick ’n’ easy, green-curry, red-curry, pad-thai and fish-cakes about what’s about to unfold. Instead, it’s a parade of carefully matched dishes, good produce and tastes to match. From the first mouthful, literally – a feather-light egg-net ball of peppery, lemongrassy, makrut-lime flavoured chicken bursting with palm-sugar juices – each course is a compare-and-contrast of flavour and texture.

A duck egg relish sits next to two kinds of crab diced with pickled leeks and tamarind, puffed tapioca crackers to go with it, and alongside deliciously sticky pork with long coriander and cucumber. An additional bowl – a clear mussel broth – enlivens the palate between bites. Tastes jump from the subtlety of herbs and spices, through smooth and creamy, crisp and chewy, stickiness and crunch.

The next three-dish course is a real winner – a quail and banana blossom salad with a dollop of coconut cream, a soupy curry of tomatillo, chilli, lots of herbs and ground pork, and a light, vegetable-focused plate of cuttlefish in its own ink. And the steamed rice keeps on coming, ladled onto grainy Japanese ceramic plates from a giant server’s bowl.

Cute little sweetmeats of grated coconut, palm sugar and toasted rice, plus coconut cream with black tapioca bubbles bring everything together – it’s as if we’ve travelled across the Thai-taste spectrum, with discovery at every level.

We love that there’s a blazing blue outdoor dining area, long, solid wooden tables and little touches like the prettiest array of personal handtowels, in multiple colours, in the bathroom. Upstairs is an art space for Potter’s partner (artist Mark Wotherspoon) and friends – which you’re welcome to visit between courses.

Viand is not an easy place to locate, sitting on its lonesome on the edge of the Woolloomooloo pub and Finger Wharf scene. And the price point won’t be for everyone. But with its fascinating food, some excellent, reasonably marked-up wines, plenty of kitchen theatre, smiling service and friendly interaction with Chef Annita herself, it’s definitely a special night out.

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