Ground Hog Day !

We are being wicked of course. In the nicest possible way. The media excitedly told us that a new broom was to sweep through the clipboard guest lists and names would be ruthlessly slashed to pave the way for a new generation of society figures to attend this week's David Jones Spring Summer fashion parades.
How pleasing then to arrive and find the usual suspects- Terri Biviano, Anthony Minichiello, Kerri-Anne Kennerley and Richard Wilkins and his permanent date these days, son Christian.
And best of all the champagne remains the same with the party awash with Bolinger.
Below : Jessica Gomez,Gary Bigeni, Carla Zampatti & Marta Dusseldorp, Miranda Otto, Tash Oakley, Rachael Finch

And the fashion...

And the video of the event..

A Boy & His Toys

Successful businessman John Kennerley is married to one of Australia's most endearing television personalities Kerri Anne Kennerley  a favourite on the red carpet. John often joins Kerri-Anne, or KAK as she referred to. It's one of the most successful local show business  marriages that has lasted almost 31 years.

So what does John do while Kerri is out competing on Dancing With The Stars and partaking in her show-biz activities ? . John, originally from Cheshire in the UK is building in  perfect detail in his house, a replica of a train line that runs through the north of England and to date has re-created a non-too small replica of one of Britain's oldest and grandest listed buildings, Shewsbury Station along with outlying tracks and trains.

He'll proudly show you some pics from his iphone of the amazing train set that snakes throughout the living room of the pair's Rose Bay mansion.

And he builds every single piece himself in a special workroom, including the replica trains that puff around the track and is now working on the local scenery to go with it.
 So it's true- a man and his shed could be the secret to a succesful marriage!

Marriage Made in Heaven

Chiswick Gardens in leafy Woollahra is one of the council's prime properties, surrounded as it is by the well heeled of the Eastern Suburbs and a stone's throw from the Consular district .

The restaurant in the gardens-Chiswick has lain dormant for some years now and after a long tender process the council has awarded the premises to one the countries best know chefs, Matt Moran and his business partner Peter Sullivan. It's a wise decision on the council's part and the pair have spent the last 18 months renovating the dining areas and adding their own vegetable garden to supply the kitchen with fresh produce.

Masterchef's Hayden Quinn

Silvia Colloca, Richard Roxborgh & Matt Moran

Anyone who has dined at Matt's Aria restaurant right next door to the Sydney Opera House will know of Matt's superb culinary skills that have made Aria the first stop of choice for visiting celebrities and tourists.

Chiswick Gardens is a bit more laid back with it's polished floors, rustic tables and superb floor to ceiling windows that open onto the gardens giving the place a light and airy feeling. Prices are reasonable and it's guaranteed to become one of the area's most popular dining spots. On Tuesday they held a launch party for regular customers.

Kerri-Anne Kennerley loves a party

Silverchair's Chris Joannou & Laura Csortan

the veggie garden

MKR's Manu Feidel & Clarissa Weerasena

Kevin Rudd's Wacky Cat Jasper

 Foreign Minister and former PM Kevin Rudd has another reason to celebrate following his successful heart operation two weeks ago, and the news that Colonel Gaddafi may be on the run (he was the only Australian politician to support the Libyan rebels when the coup began).

Kevin has won a competition to produce a unique Australian blend of Twinings afternoon tea. He knocked out 4 other challengers-shock jock Alan Jones, Kerri-Anne and John Kennerely , folk singer John Williamson and world surfing champ Layne Beachley. Proceeds from the sale of the tea go to the RSPCA.

Kev's recipe : smoky Russian Caravan with full bodied Irish Breakfast and then add light Ceylon Orange Pekoe. 
And to show how successful the blend is, we've unearthed a video of Kevin trying to coax his cat Jasper to taste the brew:

Nice Coffee-Neat Calendar

We love this calendar. It's a bit late in the year to release it  but one should always time their promotion to a date as Lavazzi Coffee did-Valentine's Day.



Layne Beachley, Wendy Harmer Kym Wilson at Lavazzi



Lavazzi have been publishing a calendar for 19 years now and this year's snapper who took the beautiful and subtle photos is world famous Mark Seliger whose work you see in publications like Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone.

The theme of the calendar was 'Falling In Love With Italy' with Seliger's work depicting different scenes each set in a different part of Italy where as any romantic worth their salt knows it is impossible not to fall in love. And that's just with the food.

Mark's work is often seen in galleries and museums all over the world and he's especially known for his creative shots that transform real life into art.

Past photographers have included Annie Lebowitz (currently in Sydney for her MCA exhibition that will soon tour the country ).

The calendar was launched the same night at a private party along the Navigli the historic and once navigable canals that are now Milan's most romantic settings within a venue transformed into Cupid's garden.

Sydneysiders settled for a huge terrace house in leafy Challis Avenue, Potts Point transformed into-well a large room with plenty of good eats, champers and delicious coffee based cocktails surrounded by huge billboards of some of Selinger's romantic photos. This calendar is a great size-6" x 8" but can the general public get a copy ?. We forgot to ask.



Blair Milan



## Naturally a top Italian coffee firm like Lavazzi wants only the best for it's guests and that was evident with the parties catering staff supplied by the award winning Stedman's team led by Mandy Quinn who has won numerous awards.

 They may soon have competition. Blair Milan one of their major, majordomos is about to set  up a catering and staff hire firm of his own.  Hugely talented Blair's dad is the media personality Nigel Milan who once ran New Zealand's top television network and transformed SBS TV into the sensational multi cultural outlet it is today.

And Blair's mum is one of TV's most popular chefs and foodies-Lyndey Milan who writes for the Australian Women's Weekly and appears on Kerri-Anne Kennerley's Morning TV Show. Lyndey once presented Gordon Ramsey with a 'swear jar' at a Sydney party into which he was to deposit gold coins for charity every time he swore. Ramsey fumbled the jar upon presentation and it smashed to the floor in a thousand pieces as he exclaimed "oh f*ck !"

our favourite Knight of the Realm

He hasn't been seen out socially of late but Sir Laurence Whistler Street wasn't going to miss the coming home party for Australia's Miss Universe entrant, Rachel Finch last night at the Double Bay restaurant Pink Salt.

Sir Laurence-one of nature's true gentleman and with one of the finest legal minds in the country is now 83-slightly shaky on his pins but still sporting those sensible monogrammed Gucci slippers and mediating complicated matters of the law. Regarded as one of the most gifted lawyers and renowned for his fair decisions, Sir Laurence is still much sought after to settle complex disputes.

A former Chief Justice-as was his dad Sir Kenneth Street and as was his granddad, Sir Phillip Whistler Street. Mum Jessie Street was one of the country's foremost feminists and human rights campaigners who once had her passport rescinded whilst overseas during the 'reds under the beds' hysteria of the 1950's when she was accused by ASIO as a "secret Commie "

Word is that Rachel is fielding offers from every TV network and after hearing her speech, we reckon she is one clever gal who will go far.

                                     Joh Bailey & Anne O'Neil

                  
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Meanwhile at the same time, same location but a few doors apart, society snipper Joh Bailey showed off his spanking brand new salon with a few up-market guests like Lady Sonia McMahon and TV daytime queen Kerri Anne Kennerley with hubby John Kennerley , the man who started Littlewoods Football Pools in the UK, sold out for a fortune and moved to Sydney to concentrate on his hobby of collecting toy soldiers.

On hand was the decorator of Joh's swanky salon Anne O'Neil wife of quarry king turned developer Dennis O'Neil and a member of the famous British Tennet family.