Vivid Fire Kitchen is back and these are the best things on the menu

• Find out what’s on the Vivid Fire Kitchen menu in Ultimo for 2025.
• Reigniting at The Goods Line for a third year, tastemakers can look forward to flavours from around the world.
• Food, live demonstrations, musical performances and light installations await.

Vivid Food is such a major part of this year’s festival, it’s hard to believe the program was only introduced a couple of years ago. Exclusive dinners by Neil Perry and Nigella Lawson are among the Vivid Sydney highlights, and foodies will be pleased to hear that Vivid Fire Kitchen is also back.

Reigniting at The Goods Line for a third year, the barbecue spectacular draws in hundreds of thousands of tastemakers with smoky aromas, flame-fuelled displays and live fire cooking demonstrations. Chefs from Sydney dining concepts are all pitching up at this year’s spread. We went along to a rather soggy preview last night to find out what’s being served up at Vivid Fire Kitchen this year.

What’s on the Vivid Fire Kitchen menu?

Flame-cooked street food, BBQ demonstrations, First Nations cooking nights and spicy flavours from Australia’s top pitmasters and chefs line the 800 metre pathway in Ultimo. Each week will see demonstrations by international pitmasters, wine pairings and several First Nations nights led by a chosen chef or institute.

At the preview last night, the rain may have been monumental but it wasn’t enough to put out the fire at The Goods Line. The fire pit burned solidly through and there were even a few blasts from the flame throwers. Here’s what we tried:

Burn City Smokers

These guys have come from Melbourne for Vivid Fire Kitchen and were our favourites of the night. Drawing on southern American-style BBQ cooking, they’re cooking up beef brisket in various forms — we tried the burnt ends in the caramelised BBQ sauce ($16) and 14-hour smoked beef brisket served sliced alongside pickled cauliflower, pickles and carrot ($23). Both were surprisingly tender, considering the conditions. You can also choose mac and cheese ($12), slow-smoked candied pork belly bits ($16), a smoked wagyu burger ($20) or brisket-loaded fries with cheese sauce, BBQ sauce and pickles ($20).

Hot Pinoy

You may have seen the Filipino BBQ street food experts cooking up a storm at Sydney Royal Easter Show. Their ihaw-ihaw (barbecue grilled) skewers will no doubt be a hit at The Goods Line. We recommend the chicken skewers over everything else.

Pocket Rockets

The signs for their naan tacos caught our attention first, but their spaceship jaffles sealed the deal. Slices of bread are filled with a curried concoction — we opted for the vegetarian filling of spicy paneer with Mumbai veggies — and stuffed into a jaffle maker before being cooked in the flames. The outside was too salty for us but the filling was delicious so we dug in with our forks. Jaffles ($18 for a single) can be upgraded to a combo meal which comes served with crispy tater tots and tandoori mayo ($25). The naan tacos, meanwhile, are topped with equally tasty curried options ($14 single, $25 for two). We chose the tandoori chicken and can certainly see what all the fuss is about; it was tender and super flavoursome. This was our second favourite of the night.

We also spotted people roaming with bowlfuls of pasta and churros, and Yummy Yummy Knafeh, who we came across at Lakemba Nights earlier in the year, are also among the vendors at The Goods Line. During the opening weekend, TV chef and Australian-born BBQ queen Jess Pryles will be the pitmaster (Friday-Sunday), Michelin-starred British chef James Lowe will take over on Monday, both showcasing their techniques and secrets while cooking at the Fire Pit. Wine pairings will be provided by Southern Highlands winemakers Tractorless Vineyards (Sunday) and Hunter Valley’s Winmark Wines, who are famed for their premium Chardonnays.

There are four light installations and projections in the area, including Eye of the Beholder which watches over Vivid Fire Kitchen. Giant eyes blink and dart across the windows of the Frank Gehry building, inspired by Salvador Dalí’s surrealist dreamscapes.

FAQs

When is Vivid Sydney 2025?

Vivid Sydney starts today, Friday, May 23 at 6pm and events will take place every day until Saturday, June 14.

Where is Vivid Fire Kitchen?

The Goods Line is an elevated walkway and cycleway in Ultimo, and home to Vivid Fire Kitchen for the next three weeks. Running between Tumbalong Park and Central Station, near to Haymarket, you’ll no doubt be in the area at some point during the festival.

How to travel to The Goods Line

On foot from Darling Harbour (eight minutes): Follow the Light Walk on Tumbalong Boulevard and turn right onto Hay Street and take the ramp or stairs up to The Goods Line.

By train, to Central Station (10 minutes): Exit via the South Concourse and walk through the Devonshire Street Tunnel. At the tunnel exit, turn right and walk along Lee Street, then continue onto The Goods Line.

By Light Rail (10 minutes): Catch the L1 Dulwich Hill light rail to Central Station. Exit via the South Concourse and walk through the Devonshire Street Tunnel. At the tunnel exit, turn right and walk along Lee Street, then continue onto The Goods Line.

By bus (one to seven minutes away): There are lots of nearby bus stops, including: Powerhouse Museum, Harris St (one to two minutes away); Harris St before Broadway (three to five minutes), and Railway Square (five to seven minutes)

Do I need a ticket?

Nope! Vivid Fire Kitchen is completely free to enter, but food and drink will naturally carry a cost. Prices vary per vendor, item and portion size.

When is Vivid Fire Kitchen open?

The grills will fire up daily from Friday, May 23 until Saturday, June 14, from 6:30pm each night.

What’s on at Vivid Fire Kitchen?

The full program of Vivid Fire Kitchen events can be found online at vividsydney.com.

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