Royal Ascot 2015: Michelin starred chefs Michael Caines and Phil Howard showcase summer menu for race event

You could say I’m not having your average Thursday morning. I’m tucking into a lobster in a Victorian horse-drawn carriage on London’s Southbank, and a group of curious tourists are snapping photos of me as I try to shove the tail into my mouth with some dignity.

I’m not getting married nor am I a masochist who relishes embarrassment, rather I’ve been invited to experience the world’s first horse drawn Michelin-starred dining experience as masterminded by the team behind the iconic annual Royal Ascot race meet - first held over 300 years ago.

Few events have the reputation to pull off such an audaciously bizarre yet luxurious PR stunt, which amounts to me scarfing down a taster menu of what Royal Ascot guests can expect from three restaurants at the course: On5, the Parade Ring and the Panoramic.

But the bespoke summer menu - served by double Michelin-starred Chefs Michael Caines of Gidleigh Park in Devon, Phil Howard who fronts The Square in the exclusive Mayfair area of west London, and Steve Golding, the head chef at Ascot - speaks for itself.

It’s a symbol of how English food is no longer scoffed at, and is at the heart of one of the most prestigious events on the social calendar. Nevermind a horse and carriage, I could be on a rollercoaster right now and I wouldn’t complain.

Before I sample the dishes, I am welcomed into the lovingly restored landau carriage by Ascot's famous Greencoats.

The first dish by Caines for On5 is a delicate potato and lobster salad, served with a cardamon and mango vinaigrette and curried mayonnaise which signposts the chef’s well-rounded and eclectic palate.

After a short trip down the river, I sample a main of chicken coronation, pickled cucumber roquette peppers, yellow chilli and black onion seed dressing - which I’m told is back on the menu by popular demand. Luckily the expertly procured and paired ingredients remove all memories of the horrors a bad coronation chicken can hold.

For desert, Howard will be walking into the culinary bear pit that is serving a strawberry ripple soufflé with elderflower ice cream. But as setting up an oven on the Southbank is, for obvious reasons, less simple than hiring a carriage, I am instead served a cheesecake expertly laced with summer flavours of strawberry elderflower and champagne - a firm favourite at The Square.

The chefs have certainly embraced the attitude of theatrical risk that makes Royal Ascot about more than just horse racing, not least in accepting the challenge of serving 180 customers - over double what they’re likely accustomed to - in between races.

And theirs is just a tiny part of the whole operation, which is run with military precision and planned a year in advance. A staggering 10,000 guests will be fed across Ascot’s 150 bards and food outlets, 19 restaurants, and 15 private dining areas each day - shuttled in by around 400 helicopters and 1,000 limos.

“Logistics is the key thing,” Caines tells me.

“You’re not serving 50 covers [customers] in your restaurant at Gidleigh Park, you’re here serving 180 covers, and you’ve got to give a bit of choice as well for the main course.”

“Royal Ascot itself is their [Ascot’s] busiest week and the catering team are well versed in these challenges so I feel very confident. I think the bit that makes you slightly nervy is the first service. Everyone keeps telling me ‘the timing the timing the timing!’.

Caines goes on to explain that guests are no long “just going for the horse racing”.

“It just shows you how far the interest in food has come in 20 years, where right at the centre of what they’re doing at Royal Ascot isn’t just the horse and carriage and the history but actually Michelin Starred chefs.

“The chef now has become as important in the terms of the way people see their lifestyle.”

Elaborating on the growing popularity of food in Britain, he adds: “Of course Phil and I are a bit older so when we started our careers we didn’t see the same enthusiasm that you see now on TV and events like this. And I’m really chuffed about that because that’s what I do and that’s my passion.

“We’re no longer a nation who doesn’t appreciate food, who doesn’t have great restaurants or doesn't have great talent, this idea that Britain’s the backwash of food and gastronomy is long long gone and events like this showcase that and I think that’s great.

He adds: “We showcase Britain what’s great about the larder of Britain, what’s great about an event like ascot and when you tie all those together you have a powerful event and long may that continue.”