Chef Ryan Flaherty to run The Byerley at Flemington Racecourse

A year after his Richmond restaurant, Mister Jennings, was scratched, chef Ryan Flaherty is taking the reins at the soon-to-open Byerley restaurant at Flemington Racecourse.

The 200-seat restaurant inside the new $128 million Club Stand will open to Victoria Racing Club members and their guests only on race days. "It's a bit surreal working in a restaurant that's only open 23 days a year," says Flaherty, "but having that time in between to source new ingredients and refine dishes is a really rare and special luxury."

Diners can book for a three-course meal, with Flaherty offering four options for each, among them whiting with salted plums, daikon and abalone in a wagyu-tongue dressing, and roasted Great Ocean Road ducks with smoked cabbage.

Flaherty, who has also worked at Northcote's Estelle, Spain's el Bulli and England's the Fat Duck, took time off after his Bridge Road restaurant closed in 2017. Casual catering work with the Peter Rowland Group in the interim led him to this role.

The Byerley will officially open on Derby Day (November 3), with trial runs planned for the Sofitel Girls' Day Out on September 15, and Turnbull Stakes Day on October 6.

448 Epsom Road, Flemington, flemington.com.au/dining-and-hospitality/the-byerley-mcc