Melbourne Cup 2015: Birdcage food off to a flying start

Cheeseburger spring rolls? Come on down crazytown, Frankenfood has made it to Flemington. In the Lexus marquee, Sydney's star chef Dan Hong has created the ultimate bar snack with his burger/springy mash-up, a Big Mac-esque, mincey, cheesy, crunchy tube of joy dotted in sesame seeds.

Upstairs, Ben Shewry is cooking a cut-down, four-dish Attica menu in a kitchen about as big as my bathroom.

"It's more room than last year," he says cheerfully, as we look out over the track and suss out Joost Bakker's vertical greenery covering the wall. Shewry's menu has Attica dishes old and new, including pearl meat with sweet-and-sour pumpkin seed oil, saltbush lamb and the architecturally complicated Maria's Green Apple.

Over yonder at Austereo marquee, Shane Delia, who has partnered with catering big gun Peter Rowland to form Rowland by Shane Delia, has created a signature salted caramel-filled pretzel – you can buy one from his new kebabery Biggie Smalls, which opens on Smith Street in December.

At Lavazza, Italian actor, blogger, cookbook author, and TV star Silvia Colloca has made scrummy mini cannoli filled with marsala-spiked ricotta and choc almond tarts, and Adam D'Sylva is dishing up gnocchi with heirloom tomatoes.

For primo cocktails, Schweppes has concocted the official Melbourne Cup Carnival drink, the Flemington Fling, a sprightly vodka mix with loads of fresh lime and mint.

Those not on the I Quit Sugar Diet, will love Darren Purchese's dessert bar at Tabcorp. It's an amazing display, and the gluten and nut-free salted caramel choc pops are sensational.

What are you eating on Cup Day? Tag us on Instagram @goodfoodau using #goodfoodmelbcup