Feast for the eyes: 5 restaurants to experience Vivid
Lisa Cam – Food & Travel Editor
T’is the season to get your mind blown! What started as a light festival which just had light installations and projections along the Sydney skyline, has now developed into a citywide event with numerous international guest speakers, music acts and lots more. Becoming a symbol of light and enlightenment, Vivid is a festival that gives Sydney’s winter a burst of energy and a good old give-it-a-go air of innovation, and this year’s inspiring guest speakers include director Spike Jonze and fashion writer Margaret Zhang. Performances such as Bon Iver already sold out within minutes of going on sale and music sensation Ta-ku is performing his live solo debut in a one-off event at Sydney Opera House featuring Wafia, a string quartet in what’s described as kaleidoscopic visuals. We’re gushing by the description alone!
Opera House
PVivid Light Walk is the main event. And if you’re even within the vicinity of Australia, you should make your way to Sydney for this spectacular feast for the eyes. This year will showcase over 60 spectacular light art installations, building projections and anything in between, making Sydney’s waterfront glow. Highlights include Cathedral of Lights in the Sydney Royal Botanical Gardens, giant lanterns of Australian animals at Taronga Zoo and of course, the lighting of the sails of the Sydney Opera House. What’s best about it? It’s free! More info Here.
Museum of Contemporary Art
Spanning from May 27 to June 18, this is shaping up to be the biggest event in the Southern Hemisphere. In between concerts and stimulating lectures, there are plenty of places to soak up the sights as well. Here are our recommendations for Vivid 2016…
Somewhere to sit back…
So you’re tired and you just want to go somewhere to rest your heels with a hot cuppa and watch the pretty lights. Here are our suggestions…
Songlines – Sydney Opera House, A Matter of Panting MCA
Café Sydney
This one’s a bit obvious, but Cafe Sydney has a clean view of the Opera House, Harbour Bridge and you can even see the Museum of Contemporary Art from the terrace. Food’s great, and drinks are too. No brainer really…
31 Alfred St, Sydney, 2000, +612 9251 8683; cafesydney.com.
Songlines – Sydney Opera House and everything else on the harbour…
Opera Bar
With the Opera Bar’s location on the lip of the Opera House – need we say more? You’d find your way to this bar to catch the best view of Vivid without a map. This is hands down the best choice, but there might be a crowd who thinks exactly the same thing too… Get in early if you can!
2 Macquarie St, Sydney, +612 9247 1666; operabar.com.au.
Fountain
Martin Place Bar
A light fountain representing and tracking the global birth rate will be positioned in Martin Place. ‘Human water droplets’ are going to be spouted from the installations water jets, land on their feet and walk away. Where exactly this fountain will be and how it’s going to be done yet to be seen but we suspect the terrace of Martin Place Bar will have a good view of whatever happens on that strip.
51 Martin Plc, Sydney, +612 9231 5575; martinplacebar.com.au.
Laser-Dragon Water Theatre
Anywhere along Cockle Bay Wharf is going to be great to catch the Laser Dragon Water Theatre in Darling Harbour, so we picked Nick’s Seafood Restaurant. Chow on the seafood tower while you watch the amazing show consisting of four video projected water-screens, 20m-high vertical fountains, 16 moving fountains, 22 high flame jets, 10 lasers and a partridge in a pear tree!
The Promenade, Cockle Bay Wharf, 1300 989 989; nicks-seafood.com.au.
Perspectives – The Galeries
Art House Hotel
After you savour the works of video artists made up of 18 LED screens throughout the Galleries on George Street, you can just walk on over to Graffiti Ristorante inside the Arthouse Hotel for some top-notched grub and then come back out to see it all again!
275 Pitt St, Sydney, +612 9284 1200; arthousehotel.com.au.
Bunny
Lisa Cam is the Food & Travel Editor of Time Out Hong Kong, where the restaurant reviews are honest, independent and paid for by the publication. When she’s not eating, tasting or writing, Lisa tends to her baby boy and cook tried and true recipes from sticky old recipe books at home. She also loves to travel and you can keep tabs on her via instagram @c9andthecity or reach her on Linkedin.