Chef Niyati Rao Joins Dark Mofo Festival 2025 to Showcase Culinary Innovation and Tasmanian Flavours

Dark Mofo, Tasmania’s iconic midwinter festival, is set to return for its highly anticipated 2025 edition in 5th June to 15th June 2025. Renowned for its bold and immersive exploration of art, culture, and gastronomy, this year Chef Niyati Rao, the visionary Head Chef & Partner at Nisa Experience and the creative force behind acclaimed restaurants like Ekaa, Bombay Daak, and KMC Bistro and Bar in Mumbai will be the Guest Chef at the festival.

Chef Niyati will be blending traditional techniques with modern flavors, and will be taking part in the Winter Feast — one of the festival’s flagship culinary events. Her participation will bring a unique Indian-inspired culinary experience to Dark Mofo, celebrating the intersection of Tasmanian produce and Indian spices. The Feast takes place over eight nights across the festival fortnight: Thursday 5th-Sunday 8th and Thursday 12th-Sunday 15th June.

The menu will feature four expertly crafted courses: two from Chef Niyati Rao, known for her innovative ingredients-inspired cuisine, and two from the talented Chef Craig Will, Head Chef and Co-Owner of Stillwater Restaurant and Stillwater Seven Boutique Hotel in Launceston, Tasmania. The guests will experience an extraordinary culinary narrative that blends the best of both worlds—Chef Niyati’s Indian-inspired creations and Stillwater’s locally-inspired Australian dishes—creating an amalgamation of flavors that are sure to captivate and delight.

Offerings curated by Chef Niyati include Marmoris—a layered dish of urchin, pickled beetroot, potato, and spiced broth, served with hydration bread and butter—and Apricus, a silky milk pudding with honey, whisky, and pandan. A signature cocktail by Nepenthe, created by Apurv Bhatwadekar-, bar manager of Ekaa with whisky, quince, amaro, and bitters, rounds out the evening with a perfect flourish.

“I’m truly honoured to be the guest chef at this year’s festival,” says Chef Niyati. “It’s an incredible opportunity to be part of such a bold and inspiring celebration of culture and creativity. I look forward to sharing an experience that brings people together through food, flavour, and storytelling.”
Chef Niyati Rao’s participation at Dark Mofo underscores the festival’s commitment to celebrating creativity and global culinary exploration. The Winter Feast — the festival’s flagship culinary event — will feature her remarkable creations, turning Tasmania’s winter bounty into a showcase of flavor, art, and culture.

About Dark Mofo

Dark Mofo is Tasmania’s midwinter festival celebrating the dark through large-scale public art, food, music, fire, light, and noise, in Hobart. Each year, Dark Mofo delves into centuries-old rituals to explore the links between ancient and contemporary mythology, humans and nature, religious and secular traditions, darkness and light, and birth, death and renewal.

Dark Mofo is supported by the Tasmanian Government through Events Tasmania.