Vietnamese chef Jerry Mai to open Annam restaurant in Melbourne's Chinatown

Before there was Vietnam, there was Annam. Chef Jerry Mai is returning to her homeland's former name for the 100-seat restaurant and bar she plans to open in August.

Teaming up with Rani Doyle from the National Hotel in Richmond, the food at Annam Restaurant Bar in Little Bourke Street will be more complex and refined than the purely Vietnamese dishes that have gained her a following at her two Pho Nom eateries.

The menu will draw on her family's Vietnamese and Cambodian roots and the food she grew up eating in a Thai refugee camp. Mai will also tap into her experience working with the likes of Long Chim's David Thompson at Nahm in London and Geoff Lindsay at Dandelion.

Demolition has already started at the former Kuni's site in Chinatown, with architect Emlyn Olaver in charge of the fitout, designed to capture the energy of an Asian street market through the use of reclaimed materials, neon and an open kitchen.

Mai jokes that she lobbied for the dinky low plastic seats used at Vietnamese street stalls for the dining room but has instead opted for a combination of bar stools and banquettes at long communal tables.

And they're installing powerful kitchen extractors so Mai can grill ingredients such as whole fish, periwinkles and pork cutlets over charcoal. Doyle will oversee the drinks list, which will include Vietnamese tinnies and Asian-inspired cocktails.

Annam Restaurant Bar is expected to open at 56 Little Bourke Street by late August.