It’s opening weekend and Poetica is packed. It points to a few things, Sydneysiders want to be the first to eat at a hot new restaurant and there’s a dearth of fine diners in the north.

Poetica is the latest restaurant by Etymon Projects, the guys behind LouLou in Milsons Point. A little eavesdropping reveals its northern customer base has come to check out the new offering. Rather than the casual bistro vibes of LouLou or the grand French brassiere glamour of The Charles in the CBD, Poetica is all about woodfire cooking.

It isn’t the easiest place to find. Walk up Spring Street – past the pumping Rafi – go down the alley connecting Denison St, cross the street and keep going straight until you see the signage and head up a level.

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The space is beautiful, a rectangular room with a 15-metre-long open kitchen running the length. The impressive glass-fronted cabinet with dry aged meats is the carnivore’s equivalent of a seafood tank. Throughout the night people come up to check it out – presumably to see what a $280 piece of Ranger Valley MB3 1.5kg tomahawk looks like.

Start with flambadou oysters. While Sydney Rocks don’t need any embellishment, these will change what you think you know about hot oysters. Rather than Kilpatrick vibes, the combination of hot beef fat, guindilla and ‘nduja hit all the right notes of hot, fatty, salty, spicy and sour. At $10 a pop they’re pricey, but I’d return for half a dozen, a glass of wine and leave happy.

Sliced raw scallops with yuzu kosho and celery is a fresh starter before meat-heavy mains. You expect a woodfire restaurant to do proteins well and Poetica does. A 250g beef rump cap is solid while a 12-day dry-aged Char Siu pork chop has the sticky, sweet, comforting flavours of Chinese takeaway.

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But what really shines are the sides.

Sugarloaf cabbage is more than just a main dish for vegetarians. Charred, smokey outer leaves give way to a soft, sweet heart. It’s topped with fried slivers of garlic and pickled bequinho chillis which add sweetness, heat and acidity to break up the richness of the buttery sauce.

A bowl of fries is an obvious choice for steak and they’re exemplary – crisp, golden and spiced with espelette. Spinach with chicken fat sounds tempting, but it could tip us over the edge – a salad is needed. A bowl of bitter radicchio, sweet fried onions and shaved gouda is bright with vinaigrette and cuts through it all.

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If you’ve had your fill of charcoal, finish the meal with a refreshing mandarin granita. Otherwise, the walnut parfait is served with chargrilled strawberries that are still warm and smoky from the grill.

Poetica’s main drawback is having to leave the warmth of the restaurant and walk into a sterile atrium to go to the bathrooms, which ruins the magic. But on the whole, Poetica is a great addition to the north’s fine dining scene. If the opening weekend is any indication, locals think so too.

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