Melbourne Cup Carnival Birdcage 2023: What to eat and drink at Flemington
From a Michelin-starred restaurant, an exclusive “wine tasting cave” and secret tequila bar — the Birdcage is back bigger and better than ever before.
Food
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Get a taste of the rich, famous and fabulous experiences inside Flemington’s most-sought after ticket.
Gwen
You can only imagine the fanfare of seeing Curtis Stone manning a portable BBQ at The Nursery days before his brother’s wedding.
“My brother and I have always been avid racegoers,” he said.
“We were celebrating with 80 friends from all over the country who didn’t anticipate the typical Melbourne weather of sunny one minute, sideways rain the next.
Needless to say, the fun continued, and we didn’t let the rain dampen our spirits – ponchos and all.”
The celebrity chef is bringing his Michelin-starred LA restaurant Gwen to the Birdcage for the first time at this year’s Cup Carnival.
“I feel extremely humbled and I’m sure that my nan, Gwen, would be looking down smiling too,” he said. “My brother Luke and I opened Gwen in Los Angeles in 2016 and to bring it back to my home town is such a thrill.”
Snaring a table at Gwen doesn’t come easy – or cheap – with the almost $1500 per person experience all but sold out across all race days.
Executive chef Luis Aguilar has been flown out for the Carnival, recreating some of the restaurant’s most-loved dishes with Victorian produce.
He’ll work alongside Stone’s Melbourne executive chef Travis McAuley and brother Luke to bring Gwen to life.
“A highlight will be our famous Blackmore wagyu from Victoria, which we have on the menu at Gwen in Los Angeles,” Stone said.
As for whether Gwen’s trackside popularity has provided enough leverage for the celebrity chef to open a restaurant in his home city?
“I would love to one day open a restaurant in Melbourne. Never say never,” he said.
Penfold’s
The iconic Australian winery revisits its Venture Beyond theme through an underwater lens, complete with underground ‘wine tasting cave’ serving nips of 2019 Penfold’s Grange and a small bite of slow cooked beef rib, potato foam and pickles by Magill Estate executive chef Scott Huggins.
Penfold’s portfolio of new-vintage tipples include Max’s rose, chardonnay, grenache, pinot noir St Henri shiraz and Bin 389 cabernet shiraz.
Piccolina will scoop a Bin 51 Eden Valley riesling-inspired gelato to make for a sweet end to the day.
G.H Mumm
Top French chef Florian Barbarot is hosting an intimate 12-seater ‘chef’s table’.
Only four sessions will be held each day, with bookings upon arrival.
The 40-minute lunch includes three ‘amuse bouche’, such as beetroot sorbet with cured barramundi, and Vegemite confit octopus with garlic bread chips, paired with a glass of 2015 Mumm Millésimé.
Cordon Rouge will be on pour in the main arena with posh nibbles such as oysters, tuna tartare, champagne-poached prawns and comte truffle toasties. Magnifique.
Lexus
Celebrity chef Luke Mangan looks to Japan for his four-day kitchen stint at the three-level marquee. Lexus x Luke is a two-course, sit-down dining experience that’ll feed 240 people daily. Guests of Lexus can make a booking on the day. Expect sake and miso-torched ocean trout, tuna sliced and prepped by skilled sushi chefs and grilled sirloin with mushrooms. On other levels, there’ll be sashimi and sushi stations, roaming canapes and cocktails by world-class bartender Priscilla Leong.
Crown Melbourne
Chef Josh Pelham is putting on a three-course, sit-down lunch that’ll churn through 120 punters a day. Crown guests can book a seat on the day. Expect a familiar line-up of caviar-topped crisp potatoes and creme fraiche, prawn cocktails, and lamb pithivier alongside Aussie fave wines such as Wynns, Penfold’s, Coldstream Hills and more.
Schweppes
Step inside the famous ‘bubble booth’ to taste their edible fruity flavoured bubbles. Guests can also sip the signature ‘Pash n Dash’ or ‘Flemington Fling’ cocktails. On food, Food and Desire chef Damien Colless runs wild with fancy fairy bread made with taramasalata, tobiko and caviar, sweet treats such as gin and tonic marshmallows and gin and lime meringues, and the ultimate ‘afternoon soaker’; truffle cheese toasties.
Furphy
It’s all about ‘beer food’. Think chicken sandwiches, steak and chips, sausage and egg English muffins, surf and turf and more. Food and Desire chef Damien Colless is behind the menu. There are also 12 beers on tap including flagship original and crisp, as well as Kirin, Heineken, XXXX Gold and James Squire Ginger Beer.
Don Julio Tequila Bar
Want to find the secret Birdcage tequila bar?
Here’s a clue: it’ll find you.
Run by spirits giant Don Julio, World’s Best Bartender alumni Orlando Marzo will be slinging shots of Mexico’s finest for up to eight people at a time.
He’ll run through a tasting of the Tequila Don Julio 1942, each shot capped with a ‘hat’ that’s later set alight to enhance the spirit’s smoky demeanour.
A chocolate is paired with the drink.
Aussie disco star Fleur de Mur will then hit the decks for a boogie before guests are sent on their merry way.
Just wait for that tap on the shoulder by a Don Julio host and let the fiesta behind.
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