13 unique food and beverage experiences at Vivid
1. 8 Bits+Bytes burger activation
Showcased at Vivid Sydney for the first time, five of Sydney’s best burger houses including Mary’s, Milk Bar by Café ish, Pub Life Kitchen, Bang Bang, and Sammy’s Burger Bar will be making visitors burger dreams come true. Themed like the inside of a vintage arcade game, visitors will be able to vote for their favourite burger in an interactive burger battle which will be tallied in real- time on a digital score board.
2. Opera Bar Songlines collaboration.
In keeping with this year’s stunning Lighting of Sails, restaurants across the Opera House will celebrate Australia’s rich culinary heritage with uniquely local ingredients. Opera Bar will serve oyster shots enriched with Indigenous berries and herbs for vibrant colouring, with ‘bush tucker’, including fingerlimes, lemon myrtle and smoked macadamia nuts. Colourful cocktails, a GIF photo booth, projections and lights will add to the playful Vivid Sydney festival atmosphere.
3. The Sydney Table
Carriageworks is hosting a series of bespoke dining experienced created by Sydney’s leading forces in food and creative industries. At each dinner, 50 guests will be treated to an evening designed and prepared by some of Australia’s most exciting talents from the fields of food, music, art and design. The line-up includes Sam Miller from Silvereye and artist Lisa Madigan. For the full program and ticketing information visit: http://www.vividsydney.com/event/music/sydney-table
4. Chatswood Market Stalls
Visitors can chow down in Chatswood ahead of previewing the vibrant WildLight – The Bio-Kenetic City installations. Throughout Vivid Sydney at Chatswood, the precinct will have market stalls in the Mall, food trucks on Anderson Street, and the new Asian inspired Hawker lane in Westfield Chatswood. At Chatswood Interchange visitors can enjoy a meal at Chatswood’s newest dining precinct, The District, open daily until 11pm.
5. Bushbys at the Royal Botanic Garden
At Bushby’s visitors can unwind with a Tyrrell’s wine and a bite to eat as they take in the spectacular light installations and join in their 200th birthday celebrations. For those on the move, Busby’s Bites will offer a delicious range of food from gourmet cheese toasty’s, beef brisket or lamb shoulder rolls, to heart-warming soups. There are also sweet treats on offer with hot mini doughnuts and Liquid Lindt chocolate shots. Busby’s Bar is named after James Busby, who collected vine cuttings from Europe that were planted in the Garden in 1833 which were critical to the evolution of the Australian wine industry of today. Busby’s Bar and Busby’s Bites will be open from 6pm – 11pm every night during Vivid Sydney.
6. O Bar And Dining
47 floors above reality O provides a perfectly stunning canvas of famous Sydney landmarks, making it the perfect location to enjoy this years Vivid! Pop in to start your night off at the bar with their Vivid inspired “Illuminate Cocktail”. (Hint, order two and you’ll get a tapas dish on the house!)
You can also opt to take your time and dine privately. We suggest ordering some canapés from the Robata Grill. Do yourself a favour and don’t pass up their scallop skewers with coriander & sesame. Now you can treat both your eyes and your tastebuds!
7. Enchanted Food Court
At Westfield Sydney the Enchanted Forest installation offers a perfect backdrop to diners on level five and six of the centre. The food court includes a variety of cuisines such as delicious dumplings from Tim Ho Wan and Din Tai Fung with late night bites open to the public until 9pm from Thursday to Saturday.
8. Twelve Squares at Central Park
An exciting pop-up bar will be located next to Chippendale Green offering the perfect spot for visitors to sit back with a drink and enjoy the impressive projections. The lower ground dining district offers an alfresco dining experience with soulful Asian comfort food from Ippudo, traditional fall off the bone Ribs and indulgent burgers from Ribs and Burgers, all offering family friendly outlets that could feed an army.
9. Chef Peter Gilmore’s Bennelong
The iconic restaurant’s menu at the Sydney Opera House celebrates the abundant flavours and diversity of Australian produce, and no dish highlights this more than the locally sourced Red claw yabbies from Mandandanji country in South West Queensland, served with lemon jam, cultured cream and buckwheat pikelets. ‘The Bennelong Billy’, an Aussie rum-based cocktail with river mint, quandong liqueur and strawberry gum served over crushed ice will also be on offer during Vivid Sydney.
10. The Night Market
Showcasing the very best producers and chefs from across Sydney and Regional NSW, The Night Market at Carriageworks will be Sydney’s first large scale immersive contemporary food and wine event. Curated by Carriageworks Farmers Market Creative Director Mike McEnearney these markets on 4 June and 18 June will feature over 50 stallholders including Young Henry’s, Archie Rose Distillery, Icebergs, Porteno and Cornersmith to drop just a few names.
11. Warm up at Eat Drink
As the lights come on, the Eat Drink, Western Foyers heaters will turn up at Sydney Opera House, ready to serve winter warmers featuring a selection of award-winning NSW wine and produce, carefully curated by Chef Lauren Murdoch. Visitors can sample Palmer’s Island Mulloway with roast tomato sauce, saffron potato and rouille or for those on the go, a pop-up on the Forecourt will serve Lozzie’s Hot Dogs, jaffles, soup and other family-friendly food and drinks.
12. Indulge in Ice Cream Burgers
One burger is never enough, so Blackstar Pastry, Little Marionette and N2 Extreme Gelato have teamed up to create ice cream burgers in Martin Place. For those visitors not boarding the burger bandwagon other on site food offerings include Bar Pho and Sandweesh. Martin Place will host a pop-up bar on-site serving Young Henry’s and 4 Pines Beer, Batlow cider, and James Estate Hunter Valley wines.
13. Food Truck Fun
Parked trucks with scrumptious foodie treats will line Hickson Road Reserve throughout Vivid Sydney serving meals from the likes of Happy as Larry, Urban Pasta, and Agape Organic. The City of Sydney Food Trucks will rotate throughout the festival and will offer everything from yum cha favourites to New York-style pastrami sandwiches, organic pizzas, soft tacos, and gourmet bangers and burgers. The trucks are a great place to grab a quick meal to take with you as you stroll around the famous light walk.
