So many of us can't wait to travel again and be transported to the glamorous, exciting cities of the world. But here's an idea – just go for a walk. Start at Circular Quay, take a slow stroll past the ferries, around the curve of the Park Hyatt, and under the darkly dramatic metal girders of the just-turned-90 Sydney Harbour Bridge.

By the time you step onto the historic 110-year-old wharf that houses boutique hotel Pier One, you'll feel as if you've been in Singapore, Lisbon and San Francisco for a week. Sydney can do that to you.

But there's another reason to book a table at Pier One's The Gantry, apart from the weathered wooden beams and floorboards and the glittering harbour views that make you feel you're sailing on a tall ship.

It appears that the management has done it again – found yet another gifted young chef and given him the keys to the kitchen. In recent memory, they picked up Joel Bickford (now with Shell House), and Thomas Gorringe (now with Aria).

This time, it's Rhys Connell, who worked with that creative perfectionist Martin Benn, first at Sepia in Sydney and then at Society in Melbourne, over a 12-year period. After Benn's shock resignation, Connell stepped up, but soon returned to Sydney, walking straight into what is going to be a very busy, hands-on, hotel-wide job.

At the moment The Gantry is running a preview menu of four courses, before both restaurant and hotel close on June 14 for four months of essential heritage restoration work.

The first course is raw yellowfin tuna – folds and furls of it, like a dropped handkerchief on the plate, capped with a superfluous basil foam that feels a bit last-century. Hiding a gleaming tuna tartare brightened with little curls of dried tomato, it's a very deft, polished dish, the textural tuna coating the tongue like mortadella.

It's also a transitional dish, referencing the training of Martin Benn but flagging good things to come in the future.

Hitting the table at the same time is a Japanese-inspired dish of bright green cucumber that has been salted and pressed, effectively pickling the cucumber in its own juices. Again, there's a reveal – below the cucumber is soft tofu, fresh and refreshing.

This conceal/reveal thing becomes a leitmotif. Blacklip abalone from local diver Ryan Morris is tenderised, sliced and seared, served with rich, creamy cauliflower rice under crisp little furls of cauliflower and the crunch of smoked chicken skin salt.

Even a lobe of poached and lightly grilled Murray cod is coated in a glossy carrot and seaweed puree hiding under purslane and sorrel leaves like koi lurking beneath lily pads.

An alternative main course of Blackmore's wagyu karubi (short rib) cut is a convincing argument for eating more fat. Two fingers of oh-so-marbled beef are slow-cooked in wagyu fat, then glazed over charcoal with a malt, soy and molasses syrup, and sent out with miso mustard, crisped red kale and tangy plum dust.

I like the way they swing in a course of warm Pioik Bakery bread that smells of rye and hazelnuts, and how front-of-house staff introduce each dish without boring you to tears with detail.

Connell's cooking comes under the heading of "there is more to this than meets the eye". It's delicate, detailed, and done with an understanding of how Asian flavours can lift and define everything around them.

A pretty little bowl of fig sundae looks ineffectual until your spoon takes you down through layers of finger lime, fig syrup, fig-leaf cream, coconut yoghurt sorbet and crumbled madeira cake.

It's brave to do a four-course menu in a hotel dining room – one hotel guest leaves because he can't get a steak – but an a la carte menu will slot in as well when they reopen in October.

So don't fret if you're not travelling overseas any time soon. There's plenty here to be getting on with.

The low-down

Vibe Destination dining with up-close harbour views

Go-to dish Yellowfin tuna, slightly dried ox-heart tomato and burrata

Drinks Ales, bespoke cocktails (posh martini, dusk at the pier), and a dense, comprehensive wine list with a focus on "emerging" varietals.

Cost Two courses $85pp, four-course chef menu $130pp (wine pairing $70pp)