Melbourne Cup menus go triple-A in truffle-driven oneupmanship contest.

Last week The Age previewed Cup food fashions, pointing out that having your finger food done by a proper chef can enhance the experience of placing what's left of your money on horses instead of in banks:

At its best, this synthesis between chef and caterer leads to a dish such as Jake Nicholson's pastry cornets with parmesan custard and Tasmanian black truffle, created this year for The Big Group at Lexus and such a perfect - and unexpectedly light - example of modern finger food it might best be described as digitally enhanced.

If you can decipher any meaning out of that paragraph at all, it may be that if you whack some truffle into a pastry cylinder, you're a chef and not a caterer. I'm not sure who would be more offended by that, chefs or caterers.

No matter. But if you're at the Cup and you notice a bead of sweat on your Lexus salesman's brow while he's scoffing his truffle custard cornet, it might not be race five he's got on his mind but the downturn in the luxury car market:

... the market has hit the wall as high interest rates, fuel prices and growing economic uncertainty take their toll. ... Lexus has drive-away pricing for its IS250, which represents a saving of almost $5000. The Japanese maker is also doing a run-out deal of $10,000 off its RX350 off-roader, despite the fact the new RX350 isn't due until early next year.

So if you're in the Lexus tent at the Cup, do your host a favour and buy a car. On the other hand, if they're doing run-out deals on yet-to-be-released cars this year, maybe by next Cup Day they'll be throwing the keys at you and begging you to drive it away free.

(First link via reader Mary.)