A Rooster One Day...

FIVE weeks ago everything seemed to be coming up roses for Sydney chef Tony Bilson-often referred to as the 'Godfather of Australian cuisine".

Ita Buttrose,Margaret Fulton & Bilson at his book launch.

At the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide launch and awards his Bilson's Restaurant at the Radisson Hotel in the heart of the city was awarded a prestigious Three Hats, the top award shared by just a few other establishments. Quay, a rival to Bilson's is regularly included in the world's top ten restaurants.

A week ago the 'godmother' of Australian cooking Margaret Fulton launched Tony's new book Insatiable-My Life In The Kitchen at the Radisson. First reports say the book has been flying off the shelves.

But on Friday the shutters came down on Bilson's as it was announced the top restaurant had gone into administration with debts of over a million dollars. Tony announced that he had failed to secure a promised rescue  packaged that may have saved his Circular Quay bar that closed it's doors a month ago and the Radisson Hotel restaurant.

The Radisson

Eighteen staff have been laid off while Tony tries to find them alternate positions with chefs like Tetsuya Wakuda. Bilson, who regularly hosted noted foodies like A.A Gill, Rick Stein, Jamie Oliver and Anthony Boudain when in town is said to be distraught. He's had his financial problems before but always triumphed and re-surfaced. Hopefully he will re-emerge in better located premises possibly in the Eastern Suburbs. While the Radisson is a beautiful old colonial sandstone building, it's location in the centre of the financial district may have been fine for daytime trade but evenings were desperately quiet.
                                          *******************************
Fabulous Understatements #1

David Patrick Columbia writing about New York restaurant Michael's on his New York Social Diary : " The Hockneys and the Lichtensteins and Stellas do something in the room. I love sitting there and just looking at them while waiting."

Letteing The Side Down

The picture below of  Puberty Blues author Kathy Lette in her corgi dress giving HM The Queen a good laugh has now swept the world and cements Kathy's place as one of the best Antipodean self publicists in the UK.

Barry Humphries at Kathy's launch

Richard E.Grant

Lette was at Buckingham Palace for a reception hosted by Her Maj before her final trip Down Under. The Queen was heard to comment that she didn't realise there so many Australians in Britain which really shows she obviously doesn't get out much. Immigration records show there are close to 600,000 Aussies at present residing in the UK.

Kathy is quoted today telling a newspaper columnist about her trip to Buckingham palace : "As we’re all convict stock, I bet they spent all day hiding the silverware, don’t you? At least I made the Queen laugh. A first, I’m sure."
"The only funny thing was that the Palace had under-estimated the party potential of a bunch of wild colonials. We were practically swinging from the chandeliers. I gave the Queen a matching corgi scarf, so I do hope she’s going to wear it Down Under. I was very relieved that nothing mated with my leg, in that outfit."

The Shuttle has encountered Kathy and her husband barrister Geoffrey Robertson ( having shared a desk with Geoffrey in High School) many times on their visits to Sydney, the last being the launch of her book Mad Cow at the Boy Charlton Pool where actor Richard E.Grant did the honours.

Kathy's book launch in Sydney

Chatting to Robertson about Kathy's books he told us: "they don't sell that well in the UK  but she is a massive seller in Germany" . Asked to elaborate as to why this may be Geoffrey said "Kathy writes books that send up the British and the Germans lap them up. They have a more base sense of humour than the Brits as well so she seems in tune with them !".
The last time the Shuttle encountered the Queen in London at an official function was a reception at Australia House in the Strand many years ago. One aging journalist from Melbourne was there and was known to be not only a drunk but incontinent as well , sometimes forgetting to wear his protective pads. A group of us watched from the sidelines in horror as the man chatted to Prince Phillip, a puddle of piss gathering around their feet. When Phillip walked away we could hear his shoes squelching.

Icy Bubbles

Moët Ice Imperial at the Sydney Opera House

While the Chandon Bar at the Finger Wharf on Thursday for Sony's Wharf4Ward was doing  a heavy trade that continued into the late afternoon inside Blue Hotel, the Sydney Opera House was preparing for the Moët Ice Imperial Launch.

The Sydney Moët launch

These bubbles have been launched at parties around the world but you would have to agree, with summer about to descend upon us down under the local team showed just how it should be done.

The Moët Ice Imperial launch in Ibizia

If only the Opera House bar was permanent but you could always re-create your own Moët Ice Imperial at home

Joe & Anna Labero at the Moët Ice Imperial launch at Loft in Båstad.

This new Moët premium range comes in a three-dimensional white and gold bottle and is a fabulous blend of pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay with notes of tropical fruits such as mango and guava, sweet spices like licorice, red fruits and peppermint.

Moët Ice Imperial will be available only in the most exclusive resorts around the world: from the beaches of Cabo San Lucas and Miami to Saint-Tropez and New York, Los Angeles, Hamilton Island and of course Sydney.

On The Waterfront

Cam McGlinchey & Natalie Bassingthwaighte

Dennis Lillee

Nikki Phillips

To one of our favourite spots-The Finger Wharf in Woolloomoolloo for Sony's Wharf4Ward.

Odds-on favourite to win X Factor-16 year old Reece Mastin at the Finger Wharf

Wharf4Ward is a music business charity raising funds to build cancer wards for kids across Australia and with a turn out of 800 at 10 top restaurants today nearly half a million dollars was added to the kitty.

Melissa Doyle &Sony's Denis Handlin

It was also a chance to check out the current X Factor finalists who all attended .Entertainment was provided by Sony Music artists, including platinum-selling Kate Miller-Heidke,  Guy Sebastian, 2009 Australian Idol's Stan Walker and 2010 Australia’s Got Talent winners Justice Crew.

Jo Casamento & Ronan Keating

Jodi Gordon &Braith Anasta

Amongst the guests- Ricky and Rianna Ponting, Geoff Huegill, Eamon Sullivan, Natalie Gruzlewski, Richard Wilkins, Kerri-Anne Kennerley, Angela Bishop, Melissa Doyle, David Koch, Natarsha Belling, Samantha Armytage and Larry Emdur. Plus teen sailor  Jessica Watson and cricket great Dennis Lillee. 



Every one can also get involved with Sony's You Can campaign without donating a single dollar. There are over 20 million old mobile phones lying in bottom drawers across the country - the You Can campaign calls on all Australians to recycle these. Sony Foundation has partnered with an international recycling company to swap old mobile phones for cash.

X Factor's Mitchell Callaway &Andrew Wishart

Every wharf should have one-the Champagne Bar

Every person should have one-a new Bentley

Here's a message from Alice Cooper, Meatloaf and others:

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.

Tom The (Sexy) Chippie

His career started as a phone-in to radio hosts Merrick and Rosso in 2000 while on a bricklaying job in Manly. Many years on and he's become a major TV star fronting numerous lifestyle programs and has done a stint on Dancing With The Stars ( a measure of sure success in Oz).

He is of course the impossibly handsome Tom Williams who was such a success on his call to the comedy duo that he was given he's own slot on their show.

Tom, Laura Csortan,Chris Joannou

Rachel Finch

Tom presented his first book last night at the Memphis Room (dedicated to Elvis) in The Winery in Surry Hills and a host of TV pals called by to toast Tom's success. The book : DIY Around The Home is chock full of handy household carpentry tips like how to soundproof a room or build a window planter box.

Tom is also a windsurfing champ and has fronted shows like Gladiators, Australia's Greatest Athlete, The Great Outdoors . Basically, he's a major sex symbol!.

Melissa Hoyer & Larry Emdur

Homage to Elvis

Those who turned up to sip some excellent wine from Wild Oats included Rachel Finch, Larry Emdur, Merrick Watts, fashion commentator Melissa Hoyer and Laura Csortan with her boyfriend Chris Joannou from the band Silverchair while ACP publisher Peter Holder launched the book.


# The Winery is another Fraser Short successful venture along with Kit & Kaboodle in Kings Cross and Gazebo in Potts Point. Fraser has just taken over the Brooklyn Hotel near Circular Quay. Tomorrow a host of writers and TV presenters gather at the Gazebo to celebrate it's birthday.

Ita Bows Out

At the beginning of August when the Shuttle brought it's readers the exclusive story that publishing identity Ita Buttrose was considering a run for Sydney Lord Mayor, the mainstream media thumbed it's nose at the tale.

Ita Buttrose

"A fantasy "proclaimed one (who should know better considering the amount of scoops we have fed them) but sure enough, three weeks later the 2 Saturday broadsheets presented their "exclusive" stories on Ita's Town hall ambitions.

Buttrose had been approached by a well known businessman who represented many others who wished to break independent MP and Lord Mayor Clover Moore's stranglehold on inner Sydney politics. They had done the research and their polling reckoned Ita was a shoo-in for the job.

Town crier Graham Keating & Clover Moore sydneyindymedia.com.au

On the weekend Ms Buttrose announced that she would not be contesting the election, probably after a long hard think about the grind of the job with it's many brickbats and few bouquets as she was sure to win.

Which leaves the dog-collar wearing mayor Clover Moore a cinch to be re-elected. Although Moore has stumbled of late over the largely unused bike lanes and unsuccessful attempts to curb nightclub drinking hours, she is sure to romp home with no credible challenger on the horizon.

Meanwhile powerful shock jock Alan Jones continues his weekly brickbats directed at Moore but they are expected to have little affect with a largely North Shore and Southern Shire audience, none of whom vote in the mayoral elections.

This weekend a group of Oxford Street businessmen will be drowning their sorrows at Justin Hemmes' Beresford Hotel having seen their dreams of propelling Buttrose into office, crash and burn.

Pearly Kings & Queens

If you don't have your own set of pearls to twirl then it's time you got yourself a string of these timeless and stylish classics.

And where better than Paspaley Pearls, the leaders in the industry who have been producing South Sea Pearls since 1935 and are the largest suppliers in Australia and are highly regarded in the fashion houses of Paris, London and Milan.

Caroline Laws & Anna Lisa Klettenberg

Paspaley excel in choosing unique locations for their season launches and last Thursday was no exception. In downtown Redfern - once a no go area but now decidedly up market- in the magnificent antique centre The Residence owned by Martyn Cook and Thomas Hamel which not only had plenty of space but some precious antiques perfect for use as display cases, plus a few gorgeous models.

The Residence is just a few doors from the premises once known as the Geebung Polo Club which was years ahead of it's time but crashed and burned putting paid to Wilton Morley's (the son of actor Robert Morley) plans to open a stable of Sydney bars (It's now a gay leather club called Mrs Marys).

Jenny Sweeney & Tim Holmes a Court

Deborah Knight & Kathryn Robinson

Social heavyweights like Anna Lisa Klettenberg and Isolde Tornya, chef Michael Moore, Glen Marie Frost and Carla Zampatti joined a younger set including a brace of Holmes a Courts and designer Bowie Wong to marvel at the beautiful pearls on display.

A late arrival- Princess Caroline Laws' chauffered Rolls Royce tentivelly inched it's way down the narrow lane before depositing her at the front door.

When Will This Fashion Die?

We've been watching with alarm the tendency for everyone these days to succumb to the tattooist needle, surely the most unoriginal fashion of the century,

Sunday Telegraph

Ros Reines writing in the Sunday Telegraph has ripped into the current X Factor judges ( and contestants) who  sport tats and insist on displaying them at every opportunity including Ronan Keating and Guy Sebastian the committed Christian who seems to be trying to re-assert his 'street-cred' to balance his palm waving life.

Lachlan Murdoch and wife Sarah Murdoch both sport them and recently the estranged wife of media mogul Mike Willesee, Jordana Willesee turned up at a Hermes party sporting a newly inked depiction of Jesus Christ although she expressed reservations that the Thai tattooist had given the Saviour a slightly Asiatic look.

Past 40, tattoos are not a look and maybe it's time to call time on this fashion!.

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.