Melbourne Cup Carnival 2014 marquee guide

AAP
Oct 23, 2014, updated Oct 24, 2014

Fresh caviar flown in from abroad, 15-litre bottles of French champagne and more “It” girls than you can poke a stick at?

Yes, it’s almost that time of the year again, when the hottest ticket in Australia is an invitation to a Melbourne Cup Carnival birdcage marquee.

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Guests of Swisse on Stakes day will party with the Australian star of the upcoming Tarzan movie, Margot Robbie, who is heading home for the first time since getting hot and steamy with Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf Of Wall Street.

Margot Robbie will be in the Swisse marquee on Stakes Day. Photo: Getty

American soapie fans might hope to slip into the Emirates’ German-themed marquee, where they could be lucky enough to bump into Mr Bold And The Beautiful himself, Ronn Moss.

If fashion is your thing, the Myer marquee will be brimming with ridiculously good looking people and a posse of Australian designers.

Myer ambassadors Jennifer Hawkins and Kris Smith will be there, of course, along with Alex Perry, Toni Maticevski and Yeojin Bae.

If you are a sucker for a glass or three of bubbly, G H Mumm is the marquee for you: one-metre high bottles of French champagne? Check. G H Mumm Cuvee R Lalou, priced at $399 a bottle, paired with fresh caviar flown in fresh from abroad? Yes indeed.

Guests of Lexus will be treated to food by award winning Australian chefs Ben Shewry and Neil Perry.

Instead of having to wait months for a booking at Shewry’s world class Melbourne restaurant Attica, guests can enjoy food from his pop up restaurant.

Margherita Maccapani Missoni, from the Italian fashion house Missoni, will be at Lavazza and join revellers who can sip on coffee cocktails and groove to the sounds of soul artist, Erykah Badu.

Here is AAP’s form guide to the colour and excess of the birdcage this year:

Swisse

Theme: Garden conservatory

Look: White painted timber lined walls, herb farm, local Australian plants, timber floors, rustic black steel windows and a glass encased garden pergola

Celebrities: Actor Margot Robbie, model Ashley Hart, MasterChef judge George Calombaris, tennis star Lleyton Hewitt and wife Bec Hewitt

Chef: Epicure is the caterer, menu overseen by My Kitchen Rules’ judge Karen Martini

Food/Drinks: Yellow fin tuna, spanner crab and avocado `cigar,’ rare Hopkins River beef and asparagus roll, raw blackberry and lime cheesecake, 1,000 liver detox shots, mocktails

The 2014 Emirates marquee

Emirates

Theme: Germany

Look: Inspired by Germany’s famous architectural icon Neuschwanstein Castle, the marquee will feature turrets, flags, towers and artwork by Hamburg-born Australian artist Mark Schaller

Celebrities: Former The Bold And The Beautiful star Ronn Moss, supermodel Gigi Hadid

Chef: Tony Cimmino

Food/Drinks: Potato pancake, beetroot cured kingfish, creme fraiche and caviar, crumbed quail egg, apple strudel, plum shrub cocktail

Entertainment: Patrick Studios Dance Group to perform the Schuhplattler, or slap dance

Lexus

Theme: Modern luxe

Look: Geometric and angular elements softened by blush, mint and grey tones. Brushed gold furniture and a large floral installation featuring hand died sticks

Celebrities: Today show TV personalities Karl Stefanovic, Lisa Wilkinson and Emma Freedman, actor Shane Jacobson, TV personality and landscape designer Jamie Durie, fashion blogger Kate Waterhouse

Chef: Neil Perry (Burger Project, Sydney), Ben Shewry (Attica, Melbourne)

Food/Drinks: Burgers and freshly churned gelato by Neil Perry, pop up Attica restaurant upstairs

Entertainment: DJ Nick Rutherford with live percussionist

Inside the Lavazza Marquee.

Lavazza

Theme: Caffe Lavazza

Look: Coffee coloured accents, Lavazza’s signature blue and duplicated large Italian fresco, The School of Athens by Renaissance artist Raphael

Celebrities: Missoni ambassador and designer Margherita Maccapani Missoni, soul artist Erykah Badu

Chefs: Paolo Masciopinto (Sarti, Melbourne), Giovanni Pilu (Pilu at Freshwater, Sydney), Alessandro Pavoni (Ormeggio at the Spit, Sydney), Jake Nicolson (Black Bird Bar & Grill, Brisbane), The Royale Brothers and Huxtable

Food/Drinks: Egg yolk carbonara served with croutons, pecorino foam and crispy pancetta, cumin-roasted pulled lamb slider with smokey eggplant and pickled green tomatoes, coffee cocktails

Entertainment: Erykah Badu, D J Nick Cohen

G H Mumm

Theme: Cote d’Azur By Day/By Night

Look: Inspired by exclusive beach clubs by day and Cannes nightclubs at night

Celebrities: The Bachelor season one’s Anna Heinrich and Tim Robards, fashion bloggers Margaret Zhang, Nicole Warne, Romy Frydman and model/blogger Tash Oakley

Chef: Josue Lopez (QAGOMA)

Food/Drinks: Caviar flown in from overseas, champagne-inspired icecream, seafood and G H Mumm Cuvee R Lalou

Entertainment: The art of sabrage, a 200-year-old French tradition involving using a sabre to remove a cork from a champagne bottle.

Myer

Jennifer Hawkins in the Myer marquee last year.

Theme: Inspired by fashion

Look: Geometrics and bold colours fashioned from crisp powder coated metals, refined timber and modern fabric. A 10-metre long bar.

Celebrities: Models Jennifer Hawkins, Kris Smith, Laura Dundovic, Kate Peck, television personality Lauren Phillips, radio personalities Hamish & Andy and prominent Australian designers and milliners including Alex Perry, Toni Maticevski, Yeojin Bae and Nerida Winter

Chef: The Big Group

Food/Drinks: More than 4000 canapes and 3000 desserts over four days. Guests are expected to drink more than 780 bottles of G H Mumm Champagne, 4000 cocktails and 1500 Boags premium beers