Sydney Eat Street: Treats to enjoy during Vivid Sydney
It’s best known as a festival of light but some of the amazing food created for Vivid Sydney is just as brilliant, sparkly and bright.
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It’s best known as a festival of light but some of the amazing food created for Vivid Sydney is just as brilliant, sparkly and bright.
Take a tour of the area’s best eateries right here with The Sunday Telegraph’s Eat Street. Are you hungry for more inspiration? Follow us on Instagram. #SydneyEatStreet
SHANGRI-LA HOTEL, SYDNEY
There is quite literally no better place to take in Vivid than 36 floors above it all with a direct view of the projection on the Sydney Opera House past the illuminated Harbour Bridge.
Vivid has taken over at the Shangri-La — in the bar, in the dining room and even the changing lights along the sides of the hotel.
Altitude Restaurant’s chef de cuisine, Insup Kim, has developed a special five-course menu he sees as seamlessly blending the colour show below with his Australian-produce based dishes punctuated with vibrant hues such as an orange pumpkin puree aside the beef tenderloin or purple edible flowers atop spanner crab.
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As a finale, the pink-mohawked executive pastry chef and unofficial mistress of fun food, Anna Polyviou, has transformed her signature dish “Anna’s Mess” — a lolly-filled, chocolate shell orb that you “smash” to get to the good stuff, into a Vivid-inspired version loaded with colour plus a sprinkle of pop-rocks.
“It’s fun with so many different flavours and so many different colours, creative and tasty,” Anna says.
Before tucking in, don one of Anna’s aprons.
“You have to smash it to eat it, so it’s playful, a bit messy and something you want to share.”
Next door, Blu Bar offers a fantastic vantage point and inventive light-up cocktails. Perfect for pre or post-Vivid drinks or merely to take in the sights from above the busy streets below.
— 176 Cumberland St, Sydney
DIN TAI FUNG
White lab coats, face masks and looks of intense concentration. There’s some serious science going on here and it’s part of what has made the Taiwanese dumpling chain Din Tai Fung the go-to for xiao long bao (soup dumplings).
Each one of these pork-filled morsels is folded precisely 18 times, weighs exactly 21 grams and steamed for precisely three minutes.
But when special events pop up on the calendar, that’s when the kitchen gets creative.
“Our team is always working on elevating our customers’ dining experience with us,” Vera Handoko, Din Tai Fung Australia’s general manager says.
For Vivid they’ve done something entirely new and created their Giant Rainbow Dumpling. They’re still made as meticulous as their smaller counterparts, but these are seven times larger, have around 35 folds (hey, it’s a new thing), and the filling includes seafood as well as pork.
It’s plenty big enough to go it alone, but you’d probably have to pass on ordering anything else — and what’s the fun in that.
Like the smaller versions, the soup is hot, so be careful when you use the large straw to suck out the warm broth.
“We hope everyone will enjoy the Giant Rainbow Dumpling as much as we had fun creating it,”
Available May 24-June 5, $9.80 each.
— For locations visit dintaifung.com.au
MILK N SUGAR DESSERT FESTIVAL
It’ll be one sweet weekend as the Overseas Passenger Terminal plays home to dozens of Sydney’s tastiest and inventive sugary treats.
From May 24 to May 26, from 6-11pm, the grand hall will welcome the return of Milk N’ Sugar’s Dessert Festival. But this isn’t your average sweets-fest; it’s what event director Yudi Loefti describes as “a creative hub where the sky is the limit”.
Yudi notes that all the vendors were encouraged to “experiment with ingredients and cooking techniques to create a dessert that is outside of the norm”.
Head to Fluffy Crunch for some glow-in-the-dark fairy floss or opt for their cult-favourite “Flurrito”, a fairy floss “burrito” filled with two scoops of ice cream and Froot Loops. There’ll also be gelato from award-winning Cow & The Moon, Melon Fiesta’s slices of watermelon filled with soft-serve, waffles on a stick from WaffleLand and the ever-popular Chimney Cones (Kurtosh), spiralled Hungarian doughnuts topped with soft serve from Hungary Bites.
“Milk N’ Sugar is a festival where you can expect the unexpected,” Yudi says.
“Desserts aren’t just desserts here, they are all fluorescent.”
facebook.com/themilknsugar
— Overseas Passenger Terminal, Circular Quay; facebook.com/themilknsugar
SPELLBOUND POP-UP BAR
Things tend to be a bit moody and mysterious at the Opera House’s Concert Hall North Foyer as from May 24 to June 5, the team behind Newtown’s The Midnight Special have transformed it into Spellbound, a pop-bar that channels the decadent and dark still-life paintings of the 1600s with the new wave punk scene of the ‘80s.
Think lavish yet eerily illuminated fruit platters alongside pewter urns and glazed skulls while music from The Cure, Nick Cave and The Damned can be heard overhead.
Playing on the extravagant theme chef Kasper Christensen from Trippas White Group has designed a menu to complement the ambience with such offerings as Croque Monsieur with shaved leg ham and raclette cheese; Truffle Croque with black truffle béchamel; Parmesan Brioche sliders with confit duck rillettes; and chicken liver pate with toasted brioche.
There’ll also be a variety of botanically based cocktails from Pyewacket’s Traditional Shrubs including the Hanging Garden made with Blanco Tequila, Mango Jalapeno Shrub, sugar syrup and soda, or Flowers of Romance with Sloe gin, Strawberry Rose Shrub and Prosecco.
Spellbound is open nightly from May 24 to June 3, however opening and closing times will vary.
— Sydney Opera House, Concert Hall Foyer North Foyer; sydneyoperahouse.com/vividlive
12-MICRON
There’s no arguing that the clever and colourful projections are phenomenal, but since launching in 2008, Vivid has evolved to celebrate creativity in all its forms.
This year, what is sure to become a highlight of the festival and the epitome of a multi-sensory experience is 12-Micron and Perrier-Jouët’s Dining in the Dark dinner sessions.
“This experience is about engaging all senses through the element of surprise,” explains the award-winning restaurant’s head chef Daniel Corbett.
“While we can’t reveal what’ll be served, the experience will take guests through five courses, all beautifully matched to the different Perrier-Jouët champagne cuveé’s.”
While the private dining room used for this event will be darkened, he notes that “the beautiful lighting from the Vivid installation” will play to the sense of sight.
Additionally, the wonderful food and matching champagne will appeal to the senses of taste and smell while the dining atmosphere will appeal to both the senses of touch and sound.
Experimenting with this relatively new dining concept, Daniel worked with Perrier-Jouët’ to determine “their recommended flavour profiles and items of food that have been known to pair with their champagnes”.
At 12-Micron though, the style focuses on non-traditional pairings, which he took into consideration and “then worked off my own interpretation on the champagne as not every guest will be a wine expert”.
“To simplify the tasting I chose one simple flavour that would be the stand out for that dish and then added textures and other flavours that would either enhance the dominant flavour or bring out the background flavour profile from the champagne,” he says.
— Tower 1, Level 2, 100 Barangaroo Ave., Barangaroo
MUST TRY
UNI-CONE
This fun-filled waffle is loaded with scoops of raspberry ice cream topped with a lemon crème Fraiche, lollies and delicate Persian fairy floss from local producer, Pariya. A win for kids of all ages.
— Endeavour Tap Rooms, 39-43 Argyle St, The Rocks
OUT OF THIS WORLD S’MORE
This s’more is the final frontier, taking inspiration from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey — squished between two biscuits, thick marshmallow and oozing chocolate make for some serious galactic gooeyness.
— Untied, Level 4, 400 Barangaroo Ave, Barangaroo
ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN
Follow the lighted path to the Royal Botanic Gardens where you’ll be lead to an old school Fisherman’s wharf inspired bar and eatery. While you’re there, warm your shackles with the vibrant blue HMAS Royal Archie, a concoction of Archie Rose Signature Dry Gin, pineapple and macadamia.
— Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney
BUBBLE O’VIVID GELATO
Inspired by the colours of Vivid, this limited edition ‘Bubble O’Vivid’ is a strawberry bubblegum gelato topped with vibrant sprinkles and strawberry swirls. It’s made fresh in store with no artificial colours or flavours. Available through to June 15 or while supplies last.
— Gelatissimo: Circular Quay, The Rocks, Chatswood, Darling Quarter and Kirribilli
Originally published as Sydney Eat Street: Treats to enjoy during Vivid Sydney
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