Horses four courses: Top chefs jockey for top spot at Royal Ascot
Forget horses and hats – it’s the food that keeps us coming back to Ascot year after year. At this year’s event, which kicks off on 14 June, six of the London food circuit’s hottest chefs have been enlisted to create a roster of tastings and meals especially for the event.
Boasting more Michelin stars and food personalities than any other British sporting event, this year’s ‘Chefs in Residence’ comprise Raymond Blanc OBE; Ollie Dabbos, known for Michelin-starred restaurant Hide; Tom Barnes, executive chef of l’Enclume; his boss, the triple Michelin-starred Simon Rogan; Brett Graham of Notting Hill favourite The Ledbury; and Nieves Barragán Mohacho, founder of Sabor (also beMichelined). Each will preside over a different tent: Barragán Mohacho, for instance, will make her Royal Ascot debut in the new Pavonian Restaurant – named after the characteristics of a peacock, and designed for an instagrammable “luxurious feel” – which will be situated in the Queen Anne Enclosure, serving a tapas-style tasting menu.
The prestigious Panoramic Restaurant, in the Royal Enclosure, will be run by Raymond Blanc and his team. Blanc returns to Ascot for the seventh time with a “tailored menu” and a “refined service” which promises to be one of the finest gastronomic experiences at the racecourse, drawing inspiration from the culinary delights of Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, his country house hotel in Oxfordshire that has held two Michelin stars for an impressive 38 years.
Added to the mix this year is The Old Press Room, a new Ascot restaurant in an elevated trackside position close to the winning post, which will be helmed by Tom Barnes, whose team will offer a six-course tasting menu providing guests with table service alongside a more relaxed fine dining experience. If that doesn’t do the trick, perhaps this will: each course will be served with accompanying wine selected by L’Enclume.
A further addition to the Ascot food scene is The Veranda, a new exclusive restaurant located at the vantage point of the winning post on the inside of the track. The innovative à la carte lunch menu, designed by 1711 – Royal Ascot’s in-house catering company, named after the year of the event’s founding – offers a sumptuous grazing-style fine dining experience that includes braised octopus, steamed cod with parsley, smoked eel, and a selection of cream teas.
Up the track will be Holyroodhouse, a light and airy space at the centre of the Royal Enclosure Gardens, which has apparently taken design inspiration from the elegant parklands of Edinburgh. This fresh contemporary restaurant, overlooking the racing preparations in the Pre-Parade Ring and with sweeping views of the “kaleidoscopic” gardens, will serve a four-course à la carte luncheon with fine wine pairings. Brett Graham of The Ledbury will headline this brand-new Royal Enclosure restaurant, bringing “elegant dishes with modern British flair”.
Set in new elevated spaces with large trackside viewing decks, each tent will afford guests uninterrupted views of the action while they pick their way through some of the best food the country has to offer. As day turns to night, the festivities will continue, with more champagne, DJs and after parties until the wee hours.
While the British weather is famously mercurial and the races maddeningly unpredictable, one thing’s for certain: this summer’s Royal Meeting is set for a stellar culinary performance.
• Fine Dining at Royal Ascot runs from 14-18 June. Go to ascot.com for more.