Behind the dishes at Night Feast 2025

By Jing Yeo Wan

Under the glowing lights of Brisbane Powerhouse, food curator Lizzie Loel guided me through Night Feast — now in full swing for its month-long run — as she and the talented chefs behind the stalls shared the creative process that shaped this year’s food lineup.

“It is our biggest festival yet so far, and last week was huge!” Ms Loel said.

Now a much-loved highlight on Brisbane’s calendar, Night Feast brings together world-class food, art, and music every Wednesday to Sunday until 9 November.

This year’s edition features nine brand new stalls, with each restaurant creating a dish exclusive to the festival.

“If you want to try one of them – like Layla, there’s a dish that you can’t get in the restaurant,” Ms Loel said.

Layla, a restaurant inspired by Middle Eastern and North African cuisines, is among the new additions. Their Night Feast-exclusive dish, Gunpowder Calamari, has already become a crowd favourite.

“Beautiful calamari, fresh fried with chickpea flour — so it’s gluten-free. Heaps of black Aleppo pepper with a bit of cumin seeds — nice bits of spice crunch in this kind of warm afternoon,” Cam, Layla’s manager, said.

For Ms Loel, Night Feast is a celebration of diversity, as she absolutely loves cuisines from different cultures.

“I’m loving Sichuan cooking, but the Middle Eastern cooking is also fantastic here, and there’re also some really great Italians, and then there’s the dessert bar,” Ms Loel said.

One of those Italians is OTTO Brisbane, the riverside restaurant known for its taste for la dolce vita, offering a wide range of Italian dishes and desserts.

“By far the most popular dish is the Deep-Fried Lasagna, we sold 3000 pieces in the first week. We might put it out in our menu after Night Feast,” Samantha, senior sous-chef of OTTO, said.

It is OTTO’s first time at the festival, and Samantha said they didn’t expect such a response, but it’s a great experience.

Another newcomer, Olé, is serving up iconic Spanish favourites for meat lovers, and cooling drinks for the warm Brisbane nights.

Nacho from Olé said the main difference between serving in Night Feast and serving in a restaurant is that he cannot have long conversations with people, but he still thinks it is more fun.

“We’ll definitely be here again next year, Night Feast!” Nacho said.

Beyond the savoury dishes, Night Feast also caters to those with a sweet tooth.

One standout is LouisB, proudly serving Queensland-made limoncello, limecello, and cafecello.

“It’s very organic, just Sunshine Coast lemons with Bundaberg sugar. It’s pure alcohol, sugar and water, that’s it. It’s as Queensland as we can get, and it’s also very natural,” Leith Anderson Reid, founder of LouisB, said.

Meanwhile, the renowned Lune Croissanterie, which began in Melbourne and now has fans nationwide, is baking up festival-only treats Lamington Cube and Pulled Pork Croissant, alongside its signature Almond Croissant.

“I am a really big fan of our classic almond croissant. It’s our best-selling croissant. It’s a classic, but you can never get sick of it,” Isabel, Lune’s pastry chef, said.

Many more Night Feast delights are waiting for you to dig in.