Birthday Boy

It's a very Happy Birthday to former Prime Minister Bob Hawke (pictured here in our exclusive snap on Friday with Labor leader Bill Shorten) who turns 87 today (well yesterday actually). The former union leader won the 1983 general election in a landslide and at one stage was the most popular PM in Aussie history. He was eventually rolled by his (former) loyal deputy Paul Keating.
Whispers often runs into the Silver Bodgie as he is affectionately know, at various social functions and we have featured him on these pages over the years. Always popular with the electorate and he always greets you with a cherry smile and more often than not, a risque joke.
Below: Bob with John Singleton at the opening of Singleton's The Worker's Bar in Balmain (reputedly where the Labor Party was created in 1891) and with wife Blanche d'Alpuget at her book launch Hawke, The Prime Minister, the best selling Australian political biography of all time.

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Photo roundup:
Matty Bennett and partner Rupert Noffs are creating a foodie storm in New York with their successful restaurant The Lucky Bee as celebs pour through the doors- below with gorgeous Victoria's Secret model, Megan Williams

 At the AACTA Awards on Wednesday night at Star City: Claudia Karvan * Mel Gibson * Ky Baldwin * George Miller * Paul Hogan * Cate Blanchett * Hugo Weaving

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

Rupert & Matty Take Manhattan

There's more than one Aussie Rupert wielding power in New York. Whilst Rupert Murdoch oversees a global media empire from his NYC base, fashion entrepreneur Rupert Noffs is carving out his own successful career with his unique Gideon Shoes that are fast becoming the favourite footwear of young celebrities and popping up for sale in more and more US fashion stores.

Rupert Noffs (left) and Matty Bennett

Just last September we reported on the wedding of Noffs, grandson of Sydney's Wayside Chapel founder Rev Ted Noffs, when  Rupert married his long time partner Matty Bennett.
Now Bennett, known affectionately as Matty Bee is opening a restaurant with Noffs on Broome Street (where Whispers lived for 2 years in a loft) on the fashionable Lower East Side.

 To be called The Lucky Bee, food will be South East Asian inspired "from farm to table" and will join the small number of popular cafes and eateries run by Aussie ex-pats such as The Fashionable Cow and former model & photographer Lincoln Pilcher's Kingswood.
# When Whispers lived in Broome Street we were advised by the local plod to avoid walking home late at night. How times change.  Below : the location for The Lucky Bee