Men In Underwear

When celebrity chef Rick Stein married his long time girlfriend , Australian publicist Sarah Burns at the Icebergs restaurant in Bondi Beach just under three weeks ago, he said the restaurant had the "best view in the world".


He could have been referring to the Bonds underwear bash held there last week at the Iceberg's seaside swimming pool just beneath the restaurant.
While Bonds' flags adorned the balcony, on closer examination the bunting fluttering in the sea breezes turned out to be rows of men's knickers. As the breeze grew stronger many dislodged and were last seen heading for the cliff walkway which would have made a nice surprise for the early morning joggers the following day.

Mark Gasnier &Pat Rafter

Tyler Atkins

The shindig was to launch Bond's new range of quick dry undies for surfers and sportsmen and a surfing match was arranged for a number of hunky men to take part in including tennis ace Pat Rafter, footballer Mark Gasnier, Hayden Quinn, Nathan Joliffee and others.

 Needless to say, plenty of  girls and quite a few blokes turned up to catch a glimpse of some dudes in briefs and tight wetsuits, muscles rippling and all that. The Shuttle just went to have a cold beer and get the gift bag that contained a few sets of the new undies. OK, admittedly we did have a little peek at the sportsmen, purely for aesthetic reasons but restrained ourselves from asking how these chaps achieve such tight butts, a subject of much discussion amongst the party guests.

nice spot for a party-the Icebergs.

Bill's Star Keeps Rising

Next month Bill Granger's new London restaurant opens in trendy Notting Hill Gate to join the 6 other establishments he owns-3 in Sydney and 3 in Japan.

The Brits  have taken Granger to their hearts. His Bill's Food TV cooking show received a healthy audience on the BBC and was shown in 22 countries although he his still finds time to clock on to Richard Glover's ABC 702 afternoon radio show every fortnight.

Now Bill's cookbook Bill's Everyday Asian has been included in The Independent newspaper's Top 50 Cookbooks along with  foodie heavyweights like Rick Stein, Jamie Oliver and Michel Roux and the legendary Elizabeth David and Delia Smith.

The Shuttle has breakfast 2 or 3 times a week at Bills in Surry Hills and this morning we heard an interesting piece of news from a very reliable source.

Both the Independent and the Evening Standard newspapers in  the UK are owned by the Russian 'oligarch' Alexander Lebedev, an entrepreneur who was once pretty high up in the KGB, a spy for the USSR in London and who is financing the political comeback of Michael Gorbochev.

A year ago Lebedev launched the lightweight daily I Newspaper that appeals to commuters and sells for around 22cents. It's a better version of the Murdoch freebie Mx that is handed out at Sydney and Melbourne rail stations.

Alexander Lebedev

Our source says Lebedev has had a small team working the Sydney and Melbourne markets to calculate if they could handle an Oz version of I Newspaper. Which would surely be a welcome addition to either city dominated as they are by Fairfax Newspapers and News Ltd.

There is a story doing the rounds that an angry James Murdoch summonsed Lebedev's son Evgeny who runs the UK newspapers, to the Wapping compound with a demand The Independent lay off reporting on the hacking scandal when it was in it's infancy.

An annoyed Murdoch received no joy from Evengy and a spokesman is reputed to have said later- "Alexander Lebedev faced some formidable opponents in the KGB-the Murdoch's don't frighten him."

Here's a reminder of how Alexander Lebedev deals with those who annoy him :

Come On Down Alex !..Australia needs you.

Tony & Margaret

# Sadly the Australian matriarch of cooking, Margaret Fulton was not included in The Independent's 50 Best Cookbooks but we feel sure it was oversight.

Kate Gibbs with chefs Tetsuya & Lucio

When her Margaret Fulton Cookbook was launched in 1968 it sold an unprecedented one and half million copies and her 12 books since have sold more cookbooks than any other chef on the planet. Not that the diminutive 87 year old Scot is deterred.

Last week she was out on the town launching Tony Bilson's new book and she has a new website that will be up and running shortly and she has an Iphone app. In fact the entire Fulton family are at it with daughter Suzanne Gibbs a respected food writer and Margaret's 2 grand-daughters taking up the mantle.

Lousie Fulton Gibbs has just launched a children's cookbook- My Grandma's Kitchen while Kate Gibbs is a contributor to the Sydney Morning Herald's Good Food Guide.

Rick Stein Marries

How times have changed.
Around ten years ago Sarah Burns, then a publicist for Harper Collins publishers invited the Shuttle to a book promotion at a trendy hotel in Kings Cross.

There were several guests there including two British chefs Ainsley Harriott and Rick Stein.

While Stein was chatting to Sarah we asked them to pose for a snap which they reluctantly did. We didn't know that evening that Fleet Street had sent signals to the Sydney paparazzi to watch out for Stein and his 'secret girlfriend' believe to be blond Australian publicist.

By the following evening our photograph of the pair had swept around the world. Over the next few years Stein and Burns played a cat and mouse game with the Shuttle when they appeared at various foodie events in Sydney, quickly parting whenever we hovered nearby. One evening Sarah admonished us, albeit in friendly fashion, for exposing their affair to the world.

Yesterday Sarah Burns married Rick Stein at Bondi Beach and both sat down for a wedding feast at Maurice Terzini's Icebergs, the chic restaurant with what Stein says is "the best view in the world".

What a difference a few years have made.

Four weeks ago Rick and Sarah were more than happy to pose at the The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2012 launch.

Ain't love grand.

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

Rick Stein Accepts Award For Lyndey

What flat-lining economy ?. If last night's The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2012 launch and restaurant award announcements are anything to go by, the dining business is booming with more than 950 establishments listed including more than 100 new places to eat.

Rick Stein & Sarah Burns

The 27th edition of the book and one of the largest to date was launched last night at the magnificent 1920's Byron Kennedy Hall in the Fox Entertainment Centre (corner of Errol Flynn and Peter Finch Boulevards) with 400 guests sipping Louis Roederer champagne.

The awards consist of one, two and three hats and the usual suspects topped this year's winners. Those awarded three included Quay which regularly tops international awards, Marque in Surry Hills, a newcomer on the block Sepia in the city and Bilsons run by the Godfather of Australian modern cuisine, Tony Bilson and Est, part of Justin Hemmes' empire with chef Peter Doyle.

Porteno in Surry Hills won Plumms Wine Glasses Best New Restaurant.

Tony Bilson makes a point to Patrick Benamou

40 reviewers put together the guide and the awards presided over by the SMH restaurant reviewer Terry Durack and co-editor of the guide Joanna Saville.
 
Terry Robinson  the chef at Sepia picked up the The Josephine Pignolet Best Young Chef while one of the countries favourite food identities Lyndey Milan was awarded the Vittoria (coffee) Legend Award. Lyndey is in Ireland filming a new TV series so good pal Rick Stein jetted in to accept the award on her behalf.

A full list of the awards is here.

Terry Durack & Jill Dupleix

Rachael & Sarah Doyle from Porteno

James Valentine MCd

Kin Chen & Kylie Kwong

    

Terry Robinson from Sepia

Three Hats for Peter Gilmore of Quay

                                                                                                                 

So Sudden-A Sad Passing.

Blair Milan 1982-2011

Just 2 months ago the Shuttle wrote of the plans of one of Sydney's bright young men about town-Blair Milan the charming 29 year old son of celebrity chef Lyndey Milan and TV executive Nigel Milan.

 In recent weeks Blair had been suppressing feelings of being unwell. He thought it was due to complications from recent dentistry work. On Wednesday Blair was immediately admitted to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital for blood tests after a visit to his GP.

Early yesterday morning Blair Milan passed away after slipping into a coma after it was discovered he was suffering from acute myeloid leukaemia.



Lyndey Milan with Margaret Fulton

Testimony to how much Blair was loved by his pals was that over 30 of them along with Lyndey and his dad Nigel packed his hospital room to be with him. Outside dozens  more friends filled the hospital waiting room. At the local pub next door many of Blair's school pals from Barker College had already began to drown their sorrows.

The Shuttle had watched Blair grow from a cheeky school lad who first appeared on the stage at the age of 14 into a well mannered, charming and gifted actor. He appeared on the Foxtel Go channel and big things were being lined up for him.

At the launch of the Lavazzi calender in February where Blair- who like so many in the uncertain theatre world, doubled up as a maître d' for Stedman's Catering told us of his plans to start his own catering staff firm and of the 13 part TV food series -Lyndey & Blair's Taste of Greece, he had completed with his Mum . It is due to be screened on SBS TV this year.

We joked about how Lydney, the vivacious and hugely popular TV chef had been one of the few to tame Gordan Ramsey whenever he was in town and of how chefs Rick Stein and Jamie Oliver had sent messages of encouragement to both Blair and Lyndey wishing them success for their Greek food show.

Blair Milan is survived by his sister Lucy who is travelling back from London and his mother Lyndey Milan and father Nigel Milan.