Kiln was always going to be interesting. A sprawling rooftop space on the cleverly realised Ace Hotel, a maverick young chef in Mitch Orr, and a lively arts-and-crafts crowd make it hum with an almost visible creative force.

But what Kiln is not, is just as interesting. It is not a typical international hotel dining room. It's not a Big Night Out (although it could be). It's not swimming with edible status symbols such as caviar bumps, truffles and lobster. It doesn't do comfort food. There are no potatoes or fries, although there is rice as a side. It's not nostalgic. Nor is it cynical.

Mitch Orr is nothing if not contrary; someone who seriously believes Jatz crackers deserve to be on the menu, topped with a mountain of smoky butter and a fat, salty anchovy. Here he defies expectations with a tight bill of fare that, at first glance, makes ordering a challenge.

You loved his pasta at Acme and CicciaBella? Sorry, no pasta here. Yes, it's a wood-fired kitchen, but don't expect a steakhouse. With carpaccio and dry-aged rib-eye the only beef on offer, it's all about vegetables and seafood.

You can't just order those kneejerk things you always feel like eating, because they're not there. It's more interesting than that.

The 18th floor offers rarely seen views across the back-end of CBD office towers and the repurposed warehouses of Surry Hills – it's like discovering Sydney all over again. Fabulous.

Inside, Melbourne-based designer Fiona Lynch has enforced muted earthy tones, polished plaster walls, Australian stone, and very Hermes-like leather-cushioned metal dining chairs. Also fabulous.

Behind the kitchen pass, former head chef of Saint Peter, Mans Engberg, applies precision timing to the carefully sourced produce. A snowflake mushroom – frilled white funghi from the Hunter Valley's Mother Fungus Mushrooms – is a revelation, brushed with mushroom glaze and maple syrup ($14). Roll it in a wasabi leaf, and it's like eating a sweetly savoury sea sponge.

Order white asparagus and peas ($25) to know exactly what season we are in, regardless of the weather. It's a sophisticated, non-shouty dish, the asparagus leaning into a nutty vin jaune emulsion, with a crunchy toss of sugar snaps and snowpea pods.

Another dish shoves the promise of summer in your face even as the retractable ceilings over the two terraces remain closed against the rain. A kaleidoscopic swirl of buttery, finely sliced alfonsino (aka the imperador that sushi chefs adore), is entwined with slivers of raw peach within a sparkling, shimmering moat of sweetly acidic tomato tea jelly ($26). Earmark this, it's pretty special.

A straight-up WA marron (freshwater crayfish) is split in half, grilled and spiked with astringent Australian desert lime and Asian long pepper for a market price, tonight, of $85. Luxurious but hard to justify.

Whole southern calamari ($45) is grilled over coals until its little tentacles are crusted with char, and doused with a punchy, lemony, oregano-scented salmoriglio dressing – delicious with a couple of thick slices of PiOik Bakery bread and koji butter ($6) on the side.

A tight list of drinks has been curated by P&V's Mike Bennie that celebrates textural whites, orange wines, and organic, minimal intervention winemakers. Agenda-heavy, it's stimulating but needs more by the glass.

Interest is sustained through to a dessert of steamed dark chocolate cake ($22), eerily reminiscent of the classic chocolate marquise of the 1980s. Its richness gets smashed by the citrusy tang of poor man's orange sorbet, giving it an old-school jaffa vibe.

There's a volatility about Kiln, as if anything can happen. People tend to stand by their tables chatting, as if at a party and it does feel like a party. Staff are cheery and can-do, crossing over from wine to food and back again.

Currently – and it's very current – it's too hot and too hyped, but still very much of interest.

The low-down

Vibe Sydney's new food and creative arts canteen

Go-to-dish Alfonsino crudo, peach, tomato jelly, $26

Drinks Elegant cocktails and eclectic, artisanal, seasonal wines – plus Resch's on tap

Terry Durack is chief restaurant critic for The Sydney Morning Herald and senior reviewer for the Good Food Guide.