Ivan Tomic
From a Serbian village to the vineyards of South Australia. A lifelong obsession with the fire, the spit, and the feast.
The Story
Born Around the Fire
Ivan Tomic grew up in Serbia, where the whole-beast spit roast isn't a catering option. It's how you celebrate. Every village feast, every family wedding, every Slava revolved around the fire. The animal went on the spit before dawn. By midday, the whole neighbourhood could smell it. By the afternoon, everyone ate together.
That tradition was handed down through generations of Ivan's family. He didn't learn it from a culinary school or a YouTube tutorial. He learned it by watching, helping, and doing, standing next to older men who'd been doing it for forty years, learning when to add coals, when to turn the beast, when to let the fire breathe.
When Ivan moved to Adelaide, he brought that tradition with him. Not as a hobby. As a craft. He started The Roaming Spit because he believed Adelaide, a city that loves good food, great wine, and outdoor living, deserved a proper, authentic whole-beast spit roast service.
The charcoal difference
Gas is convenient. Charcoal is correct. Here's why Ivan refuses to compromise.
Temperature, not timers
Real charcoal creates radiant heat that moves with the animal. There are no settings, no dials. Just the spit roast chef reading the fire and adjusting in real time. This produces results that gas can never replicate.
Smoke and flavour
Australian mallee lump charcoal produces clean, aromatic smoke that slowly penetrates the flesh throughout the cook. The result is a depth of flavour: a smokiness in the right places, a bark on the skin. That's impossible with gas.
The crackling
Crackling that actually cracks requires dry, high radiant heat at exactly the right moment. Charcoal delivers this naturally. Gas produces steam and wet heat. The crackling is never the same.
The ritual
There's something primal about gathering around a wood fire. It connects people to the food in a way that a gas jet never can. The aroma, the glow, the patience. It's theatre as much as cooking.
Ethical Sourcing
SchuAm Pork,
Freeling SA
Ivan sources his pork exclusively from SchuAm Farm in Freeling, South Australia. SchuAm raises free-range Berkshire pigs, a heritage breed known for its superior fat marbling, deep flavour, and thick skin that makes extraordinary crackling.
These pigs live outside, on pasture, with space to root and roam. They're fed properly and slaughtered humanely. Ivan visits the farm, knows the producers, and trusts the product. That relationship matters to him.
Berkshire isn't the cheapest pork on the market. Ivan doesn't care. He believes that if you're going to cook a whole animal over fire in front of your guests, that animal deserves to have lived well. And frankly, the difference in flavour is undeniable.
For lamb, Ivan works exclusively with Wunderbar Lamb, premium quality grass-fed lamb, ordered to the exact weight required for your event. It's a partnership built over two years to ensure every lamb on the spit is the best available. For goat and other proteins, Ivan works with South Australian producers wherever possible, prioritising free-range and ethically raised animals.
Recognition
Adelaide Review Hot 100
Featured in the Adelaide Review's Hot 100 SA Wines edition, one of South Australia's most anticipated annual guides to food, wine, and culture.
Adelaide & Regional SA
Based in Adelaide, Ivan travels throughout South Australia: Barossa, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale, Clare Valley, Adelaide Hills, and beyond.
Get in Touch
Talk to Ivan Directly
Ivan handles every booking personally. There's no booking form that goes to an inbox he checks once a week. Call and talk to the man who will be cooking at your event.