Saturday : another great day of fun, fashion and racing at Royal Randwick

For more information go to the Australian Turf Club website here

Growing Up

It doesn't seem that long ago when the 'scandal' erupted in Australia that billionaire Dick Pratt had fathered a daughter with the vivacious socialite and lawyer Shari Lea Hitchcock.

Now 17 years old, Paula Sarah Hitchcock was spotted out on the town this week with mum Shari-Lea and a school chum at the launch of Karim Gharbi's VIP venture hosted at the swish Penthouse at the Top of The Town in Darlinghurst.

Polish born Pratt who died in 2009 left a tidy sum to Paula that includes over $22M, a $7M Watsons Bay house on Sydney's harbour and a country property. Paula, who looks  like her late dad, is set to become a fixture on the Sydney circuit.

Louis Vuitton Goes Down Market

The Shuttle had an invitation to last night’s “glittering VIP” opening party for Louis Vuitton’s magnificent new George Street emporium but had to turn it down due to a prior engagement.

“But how can you miss it” pleaded  a breathless PR operative “when we have an amazing list of top celebrities coming ?”

“like who ?”. 

“Lara Bingle , Erica Heynatz, Melissa Doyle, Miranda Kerr !”

“anyone we may not have run into last week ?”

“Cate Blanchett, she’s cutting the ribbon ?

“look we love Cate but she’s a tad over exposed in Sydney at present . Who else?”

“ Ronnie Wood from the Rolling Stones?”

“Love Ronnie but I'm seeing him at a private party this Sunday. We’ll send our photographer to get a few snaps"

“terrific, I’ll make sure he has a good spot on the black carpet”

“you mean a carpet with one of those boards with your name plastered all over it ?”

“Yes”

“No thanks. The whole idea is to have shots that are different to the paparazzi pics-you know maybe with the product inside the store and so on”.

Ronnie & Jo Woods at LV

And so it went and driving that night at 6.30pm over the Harbour Bridge our cynicism was confirmed. Opening anything on a Friday is verboten in this town mainly because you miss the Thursday deadline for Sunday’s society pages. 

But hearing  LVHM overlord Phillip Corne being interviewed on 2GB (nighttime audience-Long Bay Jail, nursing homes, the deranged etc) tell the befuddled listeners they could save for years to buy a Louis Vuitton piece which could be handed down through their family, or of the two South American peasants who saved a lifetime to purchase a LV suitcase (presumably with no money left to travel ) the madness of the modern world was confirmed.

They did get one thing right-using top party designer David Grant. A veteran of many Olympic Games events and the legendary Cointreau Balls, there is none better.

On Wednesday we had a long conversation with one of Australia’s top movie PRs who has promoted some of the biggest stars in the world and we both agreed about the new breed of publicists armed with a "communications degree” who can do everything but communicate.

The opening of Louis Vuitton was reminiscent of  the opening of the Martin Place Armani store a few years ago.

The Shuttle phoned the PR firm (new in town) to politely inform them we would be attending.

“Oh we can't have media inside” was the snooty reply “we have VIPs coming. You can stand outside the marquee” Miss Bossy Boots said.

“Who ?” we asked. 

“Lady Sonia McMahon, Boy George and Julian Clary”

“Well the reason I’m ringing is because Lady Sonia asked me to escort her” I replied “and Boy George told me today that Armani can ‘f"ck orf” unless they gave him a few outfits and Julian Clary will be in Brisbane. Well that's what he said at lunch two days ago".

We went with Sonia in the end and it was usual suspects (without Lara Bingle as she hadn’t become one yet). No Boy George and no Julian Clary.

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Cate with LV head honcho Philip Corne

Cutting the ribbon for the opening of a new store seemed an odd job for one of the world's top movie stars but Cate Blanchett had a good reason to last night (apart from the set of new LV luggage delivered to her a few days ago)

Now that Giorgio Armani has dropped out as a sponsor for the Sydney Theatre Company-step forward Louis Vuitton. And the brand comes with it's own champagne label, Moët & Chandon, perfect for those all important patron   parties.

The Original Masterchef

Simon Eckersley at Tony Bilson's book launch

Ita Buttrose,Tony Bilson, Margaret Fulton

 He's always referred to as the 'Godfather of Australian cuisine' or the 'original Masterchef' and chef Tony Bilson undoubtedly deserves the titles. From small beginnings with his Tony's Bon Gout  that opened near the railway line at Central Station, Bilson was undoubtedly the first to introduce nouvelle cuisine in the 1970s and all others have followed since.

His next venture Berowa Waters Inn became a legend. Only accessible by sea-plane and nestled over the calm Berowa Waters it was packed every night with a 3 month waiting list for a table. His 'apprentice' there-Tetsuya Wakuda has gone in similar fashion with his city restaurant having an even longer wait time for tables and Tetsuya the biggest food star in Japan.

Another Bilson successful chef is the Dancing With The Stars champion Manu Feildel. And that's par for the course with Bilson whose first cook book Fine Family Food published 15 years ago is still used to inspire and instruct competitors in 'Masterchef Australia'

Tetsuya and Lucio

John Bell

In 2006 Tony was inducted into the Restaurant & Catering Hall of Fame and the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide honoured him with a special award for his contribution to the industry.

Murdoch Books and Matt Hanbury, Tony Bilson's publisher hosted a party at the Radisson Hotel where Tony's current venture  Bilson's is located, to launch Bilson's new book.
                                                                                          Insatiable-My Life In The Kitchen is a must read in which the bon vivant  recounts wild nights and wild appetites with an extraordinary cast of artists, painters, writers and politicians. It's a Who’s Who of Australian cultural life from the late 1960s to the present-day.

Stars may head towards Bilsons when they touch down in Sydney (Leo DiCaprio three times now) but the proof of Bilson's pulling power is the number of foodies that flock there whenever in town. In the past 3 months he has fed Rick Stein, Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsey, Paul Bocuse, Anthony Bourdain and A.A.Gill.

Those sipping Moet & Chandon at the launch included Ashley Dawson Damer, Ray Hughes, Margaret Fulton, Tetsuya Wakuda, Ita Buttrose, actors John Bell and Graeme Blundell and Lucio Galletto.

Buy Tony Bilson's Insatiable here