Merivale’s Justin Hemmes lands Melbourne Cup catering gig
Merivale CEO Justin Hemmes is one of the busiest men in the hospitality industry, now he has been enlisted as one of the official caterers for the upcoming Melbourne Cup carnival later this year.
Confidential
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Just when you thought Sydney bar tsar Justin Hemmes could not get any busier, he has been asked to cater for one of the country’s biggest sporting events.
Hemmes’ catering company Made By Merivale has been enlisted as one of the official food providers for the Melbourne Cup.
He will join The Big Group, which has been catering The Birdcage for 21 years, and Peter Rowland who has been doing it for 25 years.
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The Merivale CEO was asked by his clients Furphy and Champagne Mumm to cater for the famous enclosure, which is said to be getting an Oscars-inspired facelift which includes
a 13m-high bird-bath bar.
Hemmes said he is excited to have scored the nation-stopping race event as his first Melbourne gig.
“We started Made By Merivale about three years ago and we just approached it softly-softly, so
all our work has been based around requests,” Hemmes told Sunday Confidential yesterday.
“To branch out and do it in Melbourne is a big deal for us.
“We were fortunate enough that we had some requests from our clients who have marquees there so we had to go through the process to get accepted.”
The new catering gig comes as the billionaire is adding four new bars and eateries to his CBD precinct.
Little Felix opened its doors earlier this month and will be followed by a Lebanese eatery and bar and a Mexican bar and diner, both on George St. An Italian bar and restaurant is set for Palings Lane.
“We have lots on at the moment,” Hemmes said.
“The middle level of Coogee Pavilion is coming along and we are going to be opening just shy of Christmas which is a really exciting one for us.
“It has been two and a half years of intense planning and design but it’s been on the cards for five years.”