Aussie restaurant tops in Manhattan

Noffs with Julia Gillard & Matty Bennett

Former Sydneysiders Rupert Noffs and his partner Matty Bennett are cleaning up in New York with the success of their restaurant The Lucky Bee . The pair have received rave reviews in US publications for their trendy Soho eatery which is attracting the likes of locals and celebrities from Martha Stewart, fashion designer Valentino, LL Cool J to former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard.
Noffs is the grandson of Wayside Chapel founder the Rev Tedd Noffs and moved to New York  four years ago to promote his unique brand of Gideon Shoes, Bennett was the sous chef at Sydney's Longrain restaurant. The pair married late last year in a  civil ceremony.

Apart from New York A-listers it's  the food media the pair have won over including positive reviews in the Manhattan's lifestyle bible The Village Voice with the influential New York Eater website naming The Lucky Bee as the best new comer on the block :
"The Lucky Bee is the new farm-to-table Southeast Asian cafe from restaurateur Rupert Noffs and former Fat Radish sous chef Matty Bennett. The menu includes coconut-braised short ribs, grilled whole shrimp, salt & pepper wings, and green curry with vegetables. The dining room has a kooky vibe, with 60s-style lamps, hanging ferns, and pink & black stripes all over the place."

The Lucky Bee which also sells NYC-produced honey from rooftop hives is located at 252 Broome Street in lower Manhattan. Whispers many moons ago lived for 2 years in a Broome Street loft almost opposite where The Lucky Bee is now located. At the time the area was only warehouses, deserted at night, and even lofts were illegal dwellings. They now sell for many millions of dollars. How times change.

Martha Stewart is a fan of The Lucky Bee

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Whisper's best wishes go out to two of our favourite locals Kerri-Anne Kennerley and her husband John Kennerley after John's recent tragic accident when he broke his neck after a balcony fall.

We've encountered the pair numerous times over the years and a more loving couple is hard to find. The pair are devoted to each other and this must be particularly trying time for Kerri-Anne.

 The last time we saw them at a party John told us about his favourite hobby - he has constructed a fantastic miniature train system that snakes throughout the pair's living room. John constructs everything himself including building a miniature model the magnificent Shrewbury train station in Shropshire

Diplomatic Stoush

Martha Stewart and Rosmar Mansour

The fur is still flying over the recent visits of Malaysia's 'First Lady' Rosmar Mansour the wife of the prime minister Najib Rasak.
 A fan of local fashion designs by Paddington's Carl Kapp, Rosmar is said to have picked up $100,000 worth of Kapp's designs although she has claimed the clothing was purchased on behalf of a Malaysian boutique.

Carl Kapp

A Sydney columnist who wrote of her visit has ended up with a mention in dispatches-namely with PM Rasak telling media that the report was 'fabricated'.
 Co-incidentally the day Rosmar was visiting Kapp's boutique the Shuttle was caught in a mini traffic jam as her large black windowed SUV blocked tiny William Street in Paddo, presumably while the First Lady flicked through clothing racks.

But it's the awarding to Rosmar of an honorary doctorate of letters at Curtin University in Perth that has now elevated her visits to crisis level.
 Following the announcement of the award the universities Facebook page was inundated with 1000's of angry comments from Malasyian students who study at Curtin -there are some 2500 there-slamming the award and likening Rosmar to shoe lover Imelda Marcos.

As fast as the University burghers removed the Facebook comments more kept appearing. Now the pages have been cleansed and an ominous warning has appeared :

 Curtin University    Hi all. We have issued several requests to comply with our 'rules of engagement' on this wall. There are now so many personal attacks, allegations of ciminal activity, and hate mongering that we are obliged under the Defamation Act 2006 to remove this type of content
                                  
Meanwhile the Malaysian Blog For Change insinuates all sorts of shady shenanigans have been going on and questions who paid for visits to Malaysia by actor Robert de Niro and Martha Stewart. It's all very exciting. We await the next episode.

Live In Person : George Clooney !

Quite how the list of guest speakers at Mondays' gala event in Sydney-Global Leadership Forum will enlighten those shelling out between $880 and $1100 with is any one's guess but the line-up is fairly glitzy.

Home maker expert Martha Stewart will be talking about 'building a global brand' and the promoters are claiming she "had more influence on how Americans, eat, entertain, and decorate their homes and gardens than any one person in our history" while Hip Hop entrepreneur Russell Simmons will be spruiking his latest book Super Rich: A Guide to Having it All. Perhaps the 99percenters on Wall Street should grab a copy.

One speaker who should be interesting is Nobel Peace prize winner Muhammad Yunus who started Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in 1983 to help poor people escape from poverty by providing loans on terms suitable to them. Maybe the big four Australian banks who make multi billion dollar profits each year but were just dragged kicking and screaming to pass on the half percent interest rate drop in the past few days will take note.

But the biggest draw card commanding a reputed fee of $500,000 must be heart throb movie star George Clooney -live in person as the website says-who arrives this morning. He will talk on human rights and saving the planet, and those on it.
                                                                                               
Let's hope this conference is more successful than the last event the Shuttle attended, former British PM Tony Blair's speech at Darling Harbour earlier this year When Blair arrived surrounded by a dozen body guards and Federal Police he was greeted by just 4 media reps and a half empty room.

The only other Ra Ra event the Shuttle has attended was one many years ago hosted by advertising guru Siimon Reynolds and real estate genius John McGrath. We ended up standing on our chair shouting slogans along with the other eager bright eyed punters. But it was 8 am in the morning and after 2 glasses of champagne-the bribe we accepted to be there.

Tickets for the Global Leadership Forum Unwrapping Genius are still on sale here