With the closure of Perth chef David Coomer’s Pata Negra, it could have been a case of a diminished dining scene in the city. But no sooner had news of the Spanish eatery’s demise been announced, so too had Coomer’s planned return to his culinary love: modern Asian flavours.

First came Long Chim, by acclaimed chef David Thompson, and now there’s Fuyu, a mod-Asian diner by one of Western Australia’s best known chefs. Is Perth becoming a contender for hosting the best Asian eats in Australia?

Fuyu takes its name –  head chef David Coomer assures us – from a Japanese persimmon and nothing more. Read the name aloud and make your own judgement. If David Chang can have Momofuku, or Lucky Peach, then persimmon begins to make sense.

It’s a 360 degree move for Coomer fans, who have followed the chef from mod-Asian fare at a restaurant called 14/7 in the 1990s, to Star Anise (where he gave a young Matt Stone a start as sous chef), to Spanish tapas at Pata Negra, which closed in late 2015. Now, it’s Fuyu.

“We had a good ride at Pata Negra”, says Coomer, who returned to the kitchen there after the departure of head chef Kurt Sampson. Back on the tools, he says he realised it “wasn’t what I wanted to do” and so came the idea to reinvent once more.

He’s at pains to point out that this won’t be Star Anise 2.0.

“Look, it’ll be pretty relaxed, we’re not pitching at fine dining. [There are] similarities to Star Anise, with modern Asian, yes, but relaxed. It’ll be eat at the bar or in the dining room. We expected Pata Negra to have that bar feel as well, but it didn’t quite work like that. At Fuyu we hope to have the dining crowd and those who come in for drinks and dumplings.”

A look at a test menu bodes well with char sui bao, Cobia tataki, lacquered quail and pigs head katsu all in contention for the opening.

For those that dined at Star Anise, there’ll be a twist on a classic. “I’ve always had a bit of a thing for duck. We had a signature at Star Anise that was twice cooked. There’ll probably be a variation on that.”

And it’s not just Star Anise that he’s taking inspiration from.

“Irene, who did our dumplings and steamed buns back in the Star Anise days, is back in the kitchen to get us going there.”

With the band back together, and one of Perth’s most respected chefs reinvigorated, the advice is to get in early. It might be one of the hot dining tickets of 2016.

Fuyu, 26 Stirling Hwy, Nedlands, ph: (08) 9389 5517