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You would never know it as you whoosh by on a tram or pedal along the bike lane in a sneezy fog of plane tree pollen, but in one of St Kilda Road’s few remaining 19th-century mansions, a woman from Chengdu in China’s Sichuan province is toiling virtually non-stop to express her vision of contemporary Australia.

Vinica Zhang moved to Melbourne 17 years ago and worked as a top luxury car dealer and then an importer of bird nests, a medicinal delicacy in Chinese culture. She also ate out a lot, describing herself as a “restaurant addict” who didn’t simply enjoy restaurants, she studied them to work out what made them tick or tock.

At the end of 2020, she saw a for-lease sign at this 1890 building with Doric columns, friezes and porticos, and with more recent history as a function centre, The Willows. Zhang decided it was time to live her obsession and puzzle out her own restaurant. Jishan Garden is a 40-seat fine dining and afternoon tea destination, which also hosts weddings and parties for up to 150 people.

Chef Sean Deng, also from Chengdu and with experience cooking in Shanghai, Hangzhou and Japan, moved to Australia in 2022 to take this job. The refined, thoughtful food he and Zhang put before diners is a sincere attempt to express Australia’s delicious enmeshment with Asia in a grand British colonial building, with palatial parlours, garden outlooks and curtained dining nooks, now decorated with Chinese furniture and cabinets of oriental treasures. I don’t believe there’s anywhere else quite like it in Melbourne.

The restaurant is rightly proud of the spring banquet ($165) that diners are encouraged to order ahead. You’ll start with a timber tray of six gorgeous appetisers, both a dainty array and statement of intent: clever, detailed, pristine.

Tomato is poached in piquant broth made with salted plums. Duck breast is smoked and dressed in spicy miso sauce. Soba noodles are daubed with sesame sauce tinged with Chinese vinegar. Abalone is cooked at low temperature, then dressed with a complex ginger and garlic sauce. To generalise, Western diners obsess about tenderness while Asian eaters prize texture: this shellfish finds a balance of give and chew, a pointer to the success of Jishan Garden’s fusion project.

There are six further courses. Crab spring roll is sheathed in housemade pastry, so shatter-crisp I am silenced with awe. An entrancingly smooth pot-set egg custard is infused with pork broth and Chinese herbs. A soup that’s sticky with beef rib and lifted with five spice is presented in impressive individual tureens.

Toothfish is dressed with a mild, sweet version of yuxiang sauce, a pickled chilli preparation translated as “fish-fragrant”, even though it’s not fishy and is more commonly served with eggplant or pork.

Rice gleams with fat, gleaned from gently roasted chicken skin. It’s probably the richest dish on the menu: light, clean flavours are generally a hallmark.

Even the dessert is a graceful arrangement of fruit abetted by a delicate square of tea-infused mousse.

Some of the banquet dishes are also part of the a la carte offering, which dances through drunken prawns ($36), pepper quail ($30) and truffle fried rice ($48). Most of these dishes are spins on standards, though still with chef Deng’s intricate sauces and careful touch. There are also curiosities like cheesy roast pumpkin ($28).

Afternoon tea ($98) is a parade of pressed fruit jellies, matcha pastries and, perhaps, a pot of pu’er.

I warmed to Jishan Garden for its elegant dishes and sincere hospitality but if this restaurant is to reach its enormous potential, there could be some tweaks.

The Australian element of the “fusion” might be further explored: the food so far is more a mingling of China and Japan. The wine list is basic and a glass of sparkling wine was fully flat when poured. Though it was cheerfully replaced upon request, the experience didn’t align with an expensive meal in a mansion.

“I don’t believe there’s anywhere else quite like this in Melbourne.”

There are plans to upgrade the drinks offering and a new garden bar will be a more casual drawcard. The tea selection is already delightful, presented with beautiful ceramics and lively stories. The tales come from Vinica Zhang herself, a warm and engaging presence who makes it clear that every detail is intentional.

The business that is largely reliant on its proprietor is one of the undying restaurant conundrums Zhang must wrestle with. As with any restaurant, the enduring success for Jishan Garden will be in infusing the team with her ever-developing vision and empowering them to deliver it.

This review was originally published in Good Weekend magazine