Chris Lucas brings Chin Chin, Society and Yakimono to Flemington for Melbourne Cup Carnival
Restaurateur Chris Lucas is set to become a major food and beverage drawcard at this year's Melbourne Cup Carnival, striking a deal with the Victoria Racing Club (VRC) to bring three of his Lucas Collective venues — Chin Chin, Society and Yakimono — trackside at Flemington.
The tie-up will see Chin Chin serve a 60-minute "Feed me" menu, including its beef rendang curry, to general admission ticket holders on the front lawn beside the Fashions on the Field pavilion. Society will take over The Byerley restaurant in the members' enclosure, with executive chef Joachim Lim running a European-inspired menu featuring dishes such as spanner crab tagliatelle from Turnbull Stakes Day through the carnival. Yakimono will operate in the Birdcage for VRC members and guests, offering grilled skewers from an outlet next to the live stage.
VRC chief executive Kylie Rogers said the club needed to offer more than racing to draw crowds, describing the shift as "sportstaintment".
"It is about delivering passion points, and sport is one passion, but music is another, and fashion is another, and great food and wine is another. That was our missing link, and I knew the man to go to," she said.
Rogers said 53 per cent of general admission ticket holders for the Cup carnival were aged under 35, underscoring the need to keep racing relevant to younger audiences. The Lucas Collective partnership also feeds into the VRC's broader unreleased master plan to activate Flemington year-round with community sports grounds, equine therapy centres, pony clubs, permanent restaurants and a pedestrian bridge linking the precinct to Footscray Park and Victoria University.
"It's a vision at this stage," Rogers told The Age. "I'd like to think that we're starting to do community and commercial deals by mid next year." She added she would like to see Lucas secure a permanent restaurant at the racecourse in future.
The relationship between Rogers and Lucas began at this year's Australian Grand Prix, where Chin Chin ran a pop-up. Lucas said hospitality was central to any major Melbourne event.
"I've always said that what's a great iconic Melbourne event without great food. There's always hurdles and people that say, 'Oh, it's too difficult', but we just found a lot of like-minded people that are saying, 'Well, why not?'" he said.
With Melbourne Cup Day attendance reaching 84,374 last year, 66 per cent of them from interstate or overseas, Lucas said visitors deserved access to the city's best food culture. "We'll bring the iconic elements of what's made our restaurants successful, and we're not going to hold back," he said.
The deal comes as the VRC leans further into commercial partnerships following a $7.2 million loss last year, its fifth straight multimillion-dollar loss since 2021. Delaware North took over the VRC's main hospitality and catering contracts in April, succeeding a previous arrangement with Crown.
"We're doing it this year and we will do it for as long as it works for both parties," Lucas said.
Jonathan Jackson, 3rd August 2026
