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Defining Theeca, a cafe, restaurant and wine bar in a jacaranda-lined Darlinghurst side street, is tricky.

It is partly al fresco, with wooden tables on a terrace edged by sandstone buildings and stone pillars, conjuring visions of a small European streetscape.

Here, breakfasters eat buttermilk pancakes, truffle mushroom omelettes and a roasted fish plate with black rice salad, among a raft of other brunch dishes.

They drink strawberry bomb smoothies (made with coconut milk, vanilla and collagen) and peach oolong tea before considering a glass of chilled red wine as the clock ticks into mid-morning.

Theeca’s tiramisu is like a cloud fell onto the plate and rolled happily around in spirits and dairy.

At night, these tables are lit by flickering candles under the low tree branches. Special long table dinner bookings bring linen tablecloths and jugs of tulips, sunflowers, daisies and lilies just metres from Oxford Street’s juiced-up roar.

Inside is different again. A mildly cavernous basement space is a low-lit dining room of wooden tables, windows open to the terrace and candlelight flickering across ceiling pillars, swooping archways and diners’ faces.

Tonight, they clink glasses at two communal tables while sharing olives, butterbean and garlic dip and Cantabrian anchovies.

Are we in Spain? Is this an Italian basement restaurant, edged, as it is tonight, by long racks of wine bottles, two record players and a hefty sound system? Why is the entree called Ted’s Flatbread, from Theeca’s sophisticated Mediterranean-Australian menu, so marvellous? And who is Ted?

Theeca, which opened in 2019, is a restaurant and wine bar owned and run by Junsao Park, known as Lake, Eunseok Lee, known as Oscar, and Tacho Kang, chef and the original owner, who is Ted.

I could hug Ted for his flatbread alone. It is a crisp, golden, beautifully dense and salt-scattered triumph served with whipped butter. But then comes chicken liver parfait served with A.P Bakery sourdough and pickled vegetables.

Please order this parfait. Flocked with a wig of parsley, we swoosh tangy tendrils of carrot and turnip through its dark pink creaminess with lustiness.

Another starter, the snapper crudo with finger lime and capers, is very good. Accompanying it with a glass of Dormilona’s chenin blanc natural wine from Margaret River, or a Paloma mocktail made with grapefruit and lime juice mixed with maple syrup and sparkling water.

Theeca’s menu is seasonal, so our happiness at eating tonight’s meatballs, ribboned by wide curls of pappardelle pasta scattered with parmigiana and chilli oil, is now a sweet memory.

Roasted barramundi with oxheart tomato, olives, capers and anchovy, is a mainstay though. Arriving in a folded paper parcel cut open theatrically at the table, it is aromatic and tender. Ted, if it’s you behind this marvel, know it should never leave the menu.

After some confusion surrounding a cheesecake dessert, which turns out to be a platter of gruyere, blue cheese, lavosh, pear slices and apple chutney (lovely but unexpected), a tiramisu arrives.

Some tiramisus are prim, and some are unrestrained jalopies that explode sideways at the mere nudge of a spoon.

Theeca’s tiramisu is like a cloud fell onto the plate and rolled happily around in spirits and dairy. A trembling cocoa-dusted slab of inordinate creaminess, it wields keen coffee flavour between heavenly mascarpone.

Ted, our love for you is strong.

Eunseok Lee says Theeca is evolving into a wine bar alongside its food menus. “We want to establish ourselves as a casual wine bar with a full wine list for all tastes,” he says. “We have 90 wines, but by the end of October we’ll have 100 in stock.”

Friday and Saturday feature post-dinner DJ nights with vinyl spun from a collection of 1000 records. He also explains the menu’s inspiration comes from Ted’s childhood, when, as a young but seriously ill boy, his family focused on food to help his health.

Theeca’s dishes are inspired by the healthy food Ted’s mother and grandmother made him. “Beautiful, uncomplicated and super fresh. We want them to bring happiness because spreading love through our food service and our ambience is our ultimate goal.”