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| Gai & Robbie Waterhouse, Hoda Vakili and Tom Waterhouse |
Too many parties, too much champagne !.
Our discovery of the week : a travelling cocktail cabinet filled with Pommery Champagne. This we like.
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| The gorgeous Racheal Finch |
It was at the hot young bookmaker
Tom Waterhouse's launch of his betting website at the Beach Haus nightclub in Kings Cross :
http://www.tomwaterhouse.com/ : online betting.
Tom's family has been in the horse racing game for over 100 years. His mum Gai Waterhouse is Australia's (and one of the world's) top trainers who has trained so many winners she has billionaires and Middle East potentates battering down her door to have her train their stallions at her stud.
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| Terri Biviano & Tim Holmes a` Court |
His dad is Robbie Waterhouse who had a slight mis-hap with a nag named Fine Cotton. Something about daubing it with paint and a substitution horse. A few million bucks was won on the betting tote. The whole scheme came crashing down and Robbie was 'warned off' the course for awhile but he's back in business.
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| a Pommery cabinet ! |
But it's young Tom who has taken over the family mantle and he gave me a few tips for the track :
"it's always easier to back winners in the first half of a race meeting"-"if the track is heavy and the favourite is odds on, get on"- "if you like a horse and you are surprised the odds are longer than you expected, don't alter your bet, bet the amount you intended. Value is king"
So there it is, straight from the horse's mouth as they say.
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OK, enough already !. We've had a few dozen emails demanding to see our snaps of gal about town
Sharon Sargeant who took the ritzy
Black and White Ball crowd by storm in her glittering red outfit.
Here are 2 to go on with. Sharon is launching her own website soon so check back for the address. She promises us you won't be disappointed.
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| The Parliamentarian who makes grown men tremble-Bronwyn Bishop MP & B&W president Sue Diver |
# A special mention must go to
Tamburlaine Organic Wines (alcoholic !) from the Hunter Valley who supplied their superb tipple at the
Black & White Ball. Visit their website :
http://www.mywinery.com/. Not only a very nice drop, healthy to boot !
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The Quay Restaurant is world famous. This year it was voted Number 27 on the coveted S.Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurant’s list, to become the highest ranked Australian restaurant in the world, as well as rewriting Australian restaurant award history by scoring a “double double” win, having been named Restaurant of The Year for the second consecutive year in the industry’s two top awards, the Australian Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Awards 2010 and The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2010.
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| Leon & Margaret Fink |
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| Chef Peter Gilmore & John Fink |
So of course you would be stark raving mad to miss a book launch there especially when it's a recipe book by the famed head chef at the Quay, Peter Gilmore.
You know the nibbles will be superb, the Bollinger chilled to perfection and the crowd friendly. The only thing missing were some of the restaurant's regular clients when in town-David Bowie, Gordon Ramsay, Mick Jagger and King Constantine II of Greece.
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| our favourite Murdoch family member-Matt Handbury and partner Clare |
The Quay is owned by Leon Fink and run by his son John. John's mum is the film producer Margaret Fink who produced Candy with Heath Ledger and My Brilliant Career (for which she won an Academy Award )and which launched the careers of Judy Davis and Sam Neil.
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| The view from The Quay Restaurant |
Over the next 4 days until Sunday there will be non-stop activities with a great artistic team under the umbrella of Ignatius Jones who has designed Sydney's famous New Year's Eve celebrations at the Opera House. Fashionistas Damien Woolnough and Glynis Trail Nash have organized a pop-up fashion store, Sebastian Goldspink is curating art shows while man about town Alex Zabotto-Bentley has created installations and window art in 22 store windows. Mandy Sayer and Madame Lash will be giving literary talks.
