Adventures in Paradise

                                     Ben May of Mrs Sippy.                                  photo by Tamara Dean

Earlier we reported on the success of the Balinese version of Bondi's famous Icebergs restaurant which has played host to just about every visiting celebrity who spends time in Sydney. Opened by Maurice Terzini in 2014 has become the hot spot for slebs and locals in the island resort.

Now Andrew Stanway who launched the highly successful Mrs Sippy restaurant in Double Bay is in the process of building his Mrs Sippy Bali right near the upmarket Potato Head Beach Club but dramas have broken out. Bali's highly partisan newspapers have claimed all sorts of dramas have caused work to halt on the almost completed luxury bar and restaurant. There have been claims of falsified documents and even the Bali police have gotten involved although that's pretty normal for Bali.  Usually booking a table at the local Policeman's Ball smooths those ruffled feathers.

               Fortunately a mediator has stepped in to negotiate a settlement between the warring parties that include Stanway and his partner Ben May and a local who claims to own part of the land Mrs Sippy is being built. Stanway has called the whole thing a storm in a Balinese teapot and says he will open his venue in September.

Baird Banned !

The backlash against NSW's Boy Wonder premier Mike Baird over the disastrous Lock Out Laws is intensifying with small bars and restaurants now banning Baird from their premises. Arcadia, a bar in trendy Redfern was first off of the bat when they posted these notices in their window. Sydney entertainment entrepreneurs are banding together in a growing campaign after the laws have ensnared so much of Kings Cross nightlife and those on the Golden Mile of Oxford Street.
Respected restaurateur Maurice Terzini who owns the popular Bondi Icebergs eatery that hosts superstars  from all over the world is supporting the campaign.

Sin City Sensation

 It's never dull in Sydney which in it's long and varied career has been called Sin City and once had a reputation as the "Chicago of The South Seas" due to it's fierce gang rivalries.

Where else could noted Captains Of Industry be found battling in smart Woolloomooloo restaurants or even a Bondi street when media moguls James Packer and David Gyngel engaged in clumsy fisticuffs (over a woman?) and now the latest bunfight that involved another media name John Singleton (worth a reputed $300M) and hamburger giant Jack Cowan (worth over $900M) who doubles up as a director of the huge Fairfax Media outlets.
There was even a claim the dust-up that had an excited Singleton, who from all accounts attacked Cowan over an alleged sleight to his drinking preference- rose wine instead of a butch beer - that it was the lack of female companions that caused the fisticuffs.
The last time Whispers encountered the amiable Singleton was at the launch of his new Balmain bar (pictured with pal, former PM Bob Hawke) and before that was when he hosted the launch, along with Paris Hilton of his Bondi Blonde Beer at the uber smart Icebergs Restaurant.

above : bringing urban sophistication to Sydney: Karim Gharbi and a bevy of beauties

How timely then that nightclub boss Karim Gharbi should be launching his new VIP venture tonight at an exclusive party at an inner city penthouse (we'll be there). His services surely will be in demand for visiting VIPs and even local ones who wish to avoid the pitfalls that see them on the front pages of the nation's tabloids.

Bali Hai

Maurice Terzini

While the reality TV program What Really Happens In Bali may be horrifying the viewing public as the place appears swamped by yahoos from this fair isle, it hasn't deterred successful restaurateur Maurice Terzini who is planning to launch the Icebergs Beach Club at the ritzy Sea Sentoza Resort at Echo Beach,

Terzeni's Bondi Icebergs nestled above the local swimming pool and with a world beating view of the beach is a roaring success with locals and visiting celebrities flocking to the bar and restaurant. Terzini says he is drawing design inspiration from the iconic photography of Slim Aarrons (right)  from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s; glamour and "enjoyment in an idyllic setting with an experience that is both accessible as well as inspirational". And the architects Claudio Lazzarini and Carl Pickering from Rome's Lazzarini Pickering Architetti who designed the Icebergs will produce the Beach Club. Sounds like a winner !
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There is of course a ritzy side to Bali with numerous ex-pats who have built luxury villas and who avoid the nightmares of Kuta.
Many years ago Sydney boutique Vodka purveyor Vitek Czernuszyn lived in Bali and published a local society rag before heading to Australia.
Czernuszyn is married to Woman's Weekly Editor in Chief Deborah Thomas (left) who also doubles as a councilor on the Double Bay Council. The Shuttle's spy disguised as an aspidistra in the council chambers hears that Thomas is a shoe-in to become Mayor Of Woolahra next year .  Vitek should make an excellent First Lady.

Model Mischief

 The drama following the gaff made by host of the show, Sarah Murdoch in the announcement of the winner of the 2010 Australia's Next Top Model has been on-going

Feathers are flying in the modelling world after the top agency Priscilla's was dumped from the up-coming series and replaced by Chic run by the legendary agent Ursula Hufnagl who manages Miranda Kerr.

Taking over the reins as producer of the show Sarah ditched the production company Granada Media Australia and hired her sister-in-law Elisabeth Murdoch's  new TV production vehicle Shine. It's the sort of thing you can do when dad-in-law Rupert and husband Lachlan own most of the cable network the show features on.
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When gap toothed Victoria's Secret model Jessica Hart  scored the prestige job as top model in the Myer's G'Day Australia USA fashion spectacular in Los Angeles, she was at first reluctant to take the offer having just returned from working in the US.

However a financial offer made  by Myers sealed the deal. It was the kind that she couldn't refuse. Now there are rumblings in the huge Myer Emporium about whether former Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins will continue in her role this year as ambassador for the chain store.

Miranda Kerr with a new bub to look after and under contract to the David Jones chain won't be attending this year's summer/spring collections.

Insiders are saying Myers are looking for a knock out blow to take DJ's fashion crown. Step forward Jessica.

The Shuttle's spies in New York report the gap-toothed beauty also has an ulterior motive for the trip back to the States. She has been getting up close and personal with  Stavros Niarchos who has had an on and off affair with Paris Hilton over the past few years and that has turned into a full blown affair with Niarchos begging Jessica to return to the US, according to friends.
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Billionaire James Packer's $45M Vaucluse  mansion ( right) is steaming ahead with massive earth-shifting machines digging deep into sandstone in preparation for an underground garage to house 13 vehicles, staff quarters and a huge swimming pool and presumably a kiddie's pen for children Indigo and Jackson.

James appears to be determined to dispense with all shreds of his father Kerry Packer's empire. Having sold off his dad's beloved Channel Nine network and the ACP magazine publishing titles that filled the Packer coffers, James has now purchased a controlling interest in the Ten TV network.

the Bondi Beach pad

When father Kerry died  James inherited a $6B fortune and lost a billion in just six months. He still lives in the sprawling Packer Bellevue Hill complex-2 mansions surrounded by the grounds of 2 more that were purchased and demolished, and his 3 storey apartment that he built directly opposite Bondi Beach.

The Vaucluse house, which James spent $18M on buying 3 houses to knock down and build the ultimate play pad will be ready in about 18 months time.

Meanwhile there was a rumour being touted at the Hobart to Sydney yacht race in January that the Z-Sydney, the luxury gin palace owned by James Packer that has played host to Hollywood movie stars Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes is for sale with James shopping for a new vessel and in talks with the ship yard that built the world's second biggest 'super' yacht, Al Said for Sultan Qaboos of Oman . In 2007 Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes also joined James and wife Erica aboard their luxury converted minesweeper the  Arctic P on their Mediterranean cruise after their Hotel du Cap-Eden Roc wedding.

read more at 'PS' in the Sydney Morning Herald.

More Legal Woes For Hermes' Boss

Gary Baker

Karin

They were financially devastated by the economic meltdown when their property empire went bust.
Now Sydney's high profile socialites Karin Upton Baker, the Managing Director of the fashion label Hermes and her husband Gary Baker have been summonsed to appear in court.

Troubles began for the pair when they failed to purchase every apartment in a Bondi block with spectacular views over the beach. They had planned to turn the 1920's style flats into luxury condominiums. As property values rocketed,  the remaining tenants demanded multi-million dollar prices for their unconverted flats directly opposite the uber smart Bondi Icebergs restaurant, favourite watering hole of the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Paris Hilton.

Elizabeth Bay Duplex

 The liquidator of Baker's company Montpelier seized the block to re-pay finance companies but some of the flats have been selling for up to two million dollars less than the Bakers paid for them. Now that liquidator has summonsed both to appear in the Supreme Court in February 2011.

Karin is battling to remain in her sumptuous Elizabeth Bay duplex that has hosted some of Sydney smartest parties for celebrities like Giorgio Armani and Elle McPherson. The pair owe $18M to the finance company Perpetual and Challenger Managed Investments who are trying to evict them from the house before it is sold by private treaty.

gone!

The pair have already auctioned  their fleet of sleek black cars that were housed in the heated garage of the duplex that boasts a turntable and an elevator into the living area.

Amongst them was Karin's favourite  vintage Pagoda style Mercedes along with a Bentley Continental and a Rolls Royce Phantom all with distinctive XXX number plates.