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

A Girl From Oz

Lyndall Hobbs is an ex-Australian TV journalist who moved to London in the 70s and began a relationship with the theatrical impresario Michael White (Rocky Horror Show) who passed away recently and was the subject of Gracie Otto's award winning documentary The Last Impresario.
Lyndall lived with Michael White for 10 years and their house in trendy Egerton Crescent in West London was the "salon" of 70s London where she introduced 'Chalky' White to some emerging Australian talent like Jim Sharman, Barry Humphries and Martin Sharp (and even Whispers).
This is only one chapter in her fabulous life story from her new book "A Girl From Oz". When her affair with White ended she moved to New York and lived for many years with the actor Al Pacino. 
Hobbs now runs a highly successful design business in Los Angeles where some of Hollywood's biggest show business names are her clients.The book is fascinating reading about a person who has lived a rich and rewarding life. Available in all good books stores (the ones that are left) . Buy it for a glimpse of a fascinating era, the 1970s to early 90s.

 

Aussie Drag takes over the World

While Sydney's Oxford Street drag queen star Maxine Sheild is still basking in the glory of having

co-hosted the controversial shows  of Madonna, a veteran of the Sydney drag scene Stan Munro is wowing them in the Wales village of Abercam.
Stan who is 75 & makes Maxine look like a spring chicken can still command an audience belting out Shirley Bassey songs. Munro was born in Abercan but left at age 22 and toured the world before settling in Australia. Along the way He became great pals with British comedians like Larry Grayson & John Inman of Are You Being Served fame currently being screened on Australian TV.

An Aussie in Malta

He's spotted at some the smarter parties around Sydney & Melbourne, at fashion parades, the polo and races. Alex Zabotto-Bentley with his Italian-heritage good looks and sunny disposition is a style meister responsible for designing some of this countries best and most stylish events.
Now Alex has scored a new gig- as Style Director for the tiny Mediterranean island of Malta and their entry in the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest.

Malta with under half a million inhabitants has punched well above it's weight in the Eurovision and this year's entry will be no exception. Zabotto-Bentley has taken advantage of the local fashion creatives on the island and combined them with the best of Australian artists to create a unique video. 
Says Alex :" I love this song so much and cannot wait for the Stockholm performance. I am going to Eurovsion, my life long dream !"
Here is a video of Malta's Ira Losco with Walk On Water in what could be her winning performance in Stockholm in May this year:

Dining under the Moon

It's starts under the sun. The inaugural Moveable Feast on the sands of Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach. From the entrepreneurs who gave us the acclaimed Diner en Blanc Sydney, A Moveable Feast was the first of four in a new series of dining experiences set to take place in 2016.

 In attendance were a number of A-list Sydney and international personalities such as Natasha Oakley, Devin Brugman, Kris Smith, Maddy King, Natalie Roser, Laura Csortan, Tim Holmes a Court, Daimon Downey and of course the Bondi Rescue boys.

Lauren Murdoch of Sydney Opera House Concourse venues designed the  menu, presented in the form of a picnic hamper for two with picked Alaskan crab salad with potato, pea, celery heart and tarragon, poached chicken with roasted eggplant, du puy lentils, eggplant caviar, sesame yoghurt hazelnuts and pastel meringue kisses among other culinary delights.  Yum ! Washed down by Piper-Heidsieck. What more could a mere mortal desire?

Theatre impresario Michael White dies

Michael White at the launch of The Last Impresario with Gracie Otto (far right)

 One of the UK's greatest theatrical impresarios of the last century has died in Canada at age 80. Michael White was the original producer who took the famous Rocky Horror Show into London's West End which was such a success the musical has never been out of production on a stage somewhere around the world since.

During his time White worked with Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French, the Monty Python team and the comedy team called The Young Ones.

White who once famously quipped :"I'm the most famous person you have never heard of " lived with for many years with the Australian journalist Lyndall Hobbs who remained a life long friend and was the subject of the 2013 documentary produced by Gracie Otto called The Last Impresario.

 Gracie tweeted : "Love you so much... a true inspiration and generous soul. Changed my life forever. RIP dear dear Michael White,"

Mardi Gras Photo Special

Even more exciting news

If the thought of Jerry & Rupert's nuptials hasn't given you a heart starter, this news surely will:

As exclusively reported in LatteLife Newspaper - Southern Highland's edition ( which Whispers and the office cat proudly contribute to) the beautiful little town of Berry may become the home of superstar Leo DiCaprio:
    

"DiCaprio announces move to Berry NSW

Leonardo DiCaprio in a post Oscar magazine interview said that he was, “tired of the Hollywood lifestyle” and that he wanted to “live in a place where people were just people and whose sincerity you didn’t have to question”. He recently visited Berry while scouting out a film location with Martin Scorsese and, according to Scorsese, “Leo immediately fell in love with the relaxed lifestyle and the small town feel of Berry and that whole area and was telling everyone that he was going to move there.”

“I’ve accomplished a lot in my career and I feel like I just want to slow down a little bit and moving to a town like Berry in such a beautiful location full of beautiful people in a beautiful country is exactly what I want in my life right now,” DiCaprio said “I’m not giving up my career, I just want to move to a place that feels so different than what I’ve been used to all my life. For me, that place is Berry.” Here at LatteLife we think Leo needs to scout further South and move to Berrima or Bowral."

DiCaprio would join such names as Nicole Kidman and Miriam Margolyes and the late Lord McAlpine who all chose to spend most of their time in Australia's most beautiful rural retreat. And Berry? We can only think of actor Max Cullen who is a resident. Max is currently on tour with Warren Fahey in their hugely successful Dead Men Talking tour about Australia's legendary poets & writers Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson

Gerry & The Pacemaker Get Hitched !

         READ ALL ABOUT IT

Selfies at a Chinese New Year dinner

First Lady Lucy Turnbull with Joanna & Edmund Capon

When Sydney businessman Simon Chan announced that the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull would be the guest of honour at his Haymarket Chinese New Year Banquet, the event sold out that day. Simon has had this dinner many years (in association with various organisations) and usually he presents the guest of honour to the various tables to drink a toast. That's a traditional thing to do. So it was well behaved pandemonium when Simon took Malcolm around and 500 guests wanted to have a selfie taken with him. (you need to search Instagram for those selfies)

actor Jack Thompson & Malcolm Turnbull       William Yang & Shen Jiawei     Simon Chan & the PM

Lord Mayor Clover Moore points at something..and finds it's Chinese Dragon

One guest at Simon Chan's NY dinner was the prolific Sydney photographer William Yang (left) who has been documenting Sydney's nightlife for 40 years now. 
ABC TV just screened his documentary Friends Of Dorothy, a history of the Sydney Gay &Lesbian Mardi Gras.  Yang's current exhibition Stories of Love & Death is currently on show at Stills Gallery in Paddington as part of the Mardi Gras season.  Stills Gallery : 36 Gosbell St, Paddington NSW 2021 Phone:(02) 9331 7775

Geat News for us oldies !

Many if us (well Whispers for a start) have been on the receiving end of claims those labelled Baby Boomers ( born after WW2) have had the best of times and should be gracefully moving aside for younger generations.

But we are still in demand (hopefully) as the successful Sydney based Australian brand Blue Illusion today launches their new Star Super Model- the 95 year old Iris Apfel to launch their  Ageless Style brand of accessories. 
When Whispers worked in New York we regularly spotted Iris on the social circuit. She really has had that ageless and unique look for going on 40 years now. This should be wonderful news for the Elle McPhersons ( 52 years old) of the world let alone whippersnappers like Miranda Kerr who is a a mere 33 years old. And what  a boost for us here at Whispers with your correspondent sharing the same birth date as Ms Apfel (different decade). Watch Iris talk on style below.

They came in their thousands

Even the organizers seemed surprised. The occasion was a protest about Sydney's infamous Lock Out Laws that have been so destructive to Sydney's nightlife in Kings Cross and the so-called Golden Mile of Oxford Street.
       And it's not just venue owners and late night revelers who are suffering. Thousands of jobs are dependent on the nightclub trade as well as hundreds of small supporting businesses like cafes, coffee shops, fast food outlets and even taxi drivers. The Cross and Oxford Street have become like a desert as businesses close every day. In Oxford Street there are dozens of To-Let signs.
      This Sunday, as the anger is quietly building, people flocked to Belmore Park opposite Central Station to express their concern. At least 15000 of them. I think that is a conservative estimate. How the mainstream media report this event will be interesting. Meanwhile around the Star Casino precinct and the various pubs in Pyrmont, just outside of the lock-out area, you can drink 24 hours and alcohol fueled assaults have increased.

Ouch ! Roxy Jacenko unloads

Sydney high profile publicist Roxy Jacenko has hit out at those who are attacking her over the controversy surrounding what apparently are some pretty distasteful photographs of her daughter's head superimposed into other pictures. The photos are said to have been circulated among rivals in the fashion industry.

While Roxy, whose events we attend does promote her daughter Whispers cannot see why Roxy should be so viciously attacked for it even if we think it's not very prudent.

An attack on the mum is almost a vicarious attack on the daughter. The child is an innocent party in this and no matter what your views are, she will grow up and read all this (?) in the future.

So hands off as you take a perilous path when tangling with Roxy. You will get back as good as you give and then some.

Jumping for Joy at Tropfest

Dan Ilic jumps for joy on the black carpet.

The Tropfest short film festival is back in a big way and superstars turned out to support the founder John Polson as our snaps show : Rebecca Gibney, Mel Gibson ( pictured below with John Polson) and Simon Baker.
Winners of this year's prize were animators Spencer Susser and Daniel Cloud-Campos.
whose stop-frame animation with real clothing called Shi picked up the gong.

 

And well worth reading is Gary Maddox's article in the Sydney Morning Herald about some of the woes that bedeviled Tropfest. 

Given the recent background of the festival, it's remarkable that John Polson has been able to resurrect the popular event so quickly.

Baird Banned !

The backlash against NSW's Boy Wonder premier Mike Baird over the disastrous Lock Out Laws is intensifying with small bars and restaurants now banning Baird from their premises. Arcadia, a bar in trendy Redfern was first off of the bat when they posted these notices in their window. Sydney entertainment entrepreneurs are banding together in a growing campaign after the laws have ensnared so much of Kings Cross nightlife and those on the Golden Mile of Oxford Street.
Respected restaurateur Maurice Terzini who owns the popular Bondi Icebergs eatery that hosts superstars  from all over the world is supporting the campaign.

Have they got the message yet?

 Late last year Whispers posted a video (below) of a US comedian who is a superb Barack Obama look-alike as he toured Kings Cross in support of attempts to revitalize the former nightclub area of Sydney.


Tonight Whispers had reason to visit the Cross after a small party in Dank Street. Dank Street in Waterloo is a sort of uber design area with million dollar apartments and oh-so-smart designer shops and is home to Luke Mangans latest restaurant Mojo. Pleasing to see that Mojo was filling up as we passed by but Kings Cross?. Dead as the proverbial Dodo. Even the strip joints are closing down. Coffee shops, small fast food outlets are screaming foul. As for cleaning up crime, Whispers was offered drugs twice on our stroll.

Boy Wonder enjoys a glass of wine-before midnight

On Facebook a post by respected art dealer Michael K. Carr drew ire. It was snap of a recent typical sunny Sydney day at the wondrous Boy Charlton Pool that nestles beside the harbour. The snap was of 2 policeman and Sydney's drug sniffer dogs that now invade everywhere and anywhere courtesy of former Labor premier Bob Carr who loved to govern via whatever edict came that week from Rupert Murdoch's downmarket tabloid The Daily Telegraph.
#Some posters say the snap was of dogs during a bomb search.
                  

It's Front Page news

Visiting our doctor in Oxford Street near Whitlam Square this morning brought the sight of even more empty shops, former bars & nightclubs.               

Never mind- you can still drink  24 hours at the glitzy Star Casino and also when the James Packer consortium finally opens the Barangaroo casino there will be no lockout laws and despite what Boy Wonder premier Mike Baird says (he reckons if you need a bottle of wine after midnight there is something strange about you) drinks will flow at all hours at Bangaroo,

further reading : # the screed by Matt Barrie that has ignited a seething undercurrent of furious Sydneysiders distraught at seeing their nightlife vanish overnight.
# The 'raid' by police on a small restaurant serving wine by the glass
# You can also read Boy Wonder's Facebook page defence of the Lock Out Laws- 8000 plus comments and they aren't complimentary. The campaign is just beginning!.

Arise Lord Abbott

A plan is underway to ennoble former prime minister Tony Abbott so he can aid the UK in their battle to "stop the boats".
Would Abbott accept the invitation to take the ermine? Oh yes he would. Read about in the UK's Daily Telegraph.

G'day USA

It's that time of the year when the Gum Leaf Mafia gather in Los Angeles for a series of Australian themed events, fashion shows and so on. Last night it was the gala dinner and of course, another opportunity for casino billionaire James Packer to show off his fiancee Mariah Carey, and of course that ring. Here are a couple of short films from the events. And aren't the LA paparazzi just delightful?



And an Only In Australia moment : 2 Weeks ago he was in Washington meeting with US president Barack Obama...just yesterday our newly minted Prime Minster Malcolm Turnbull was in Melbourne catching a tram. No police, flashing lights or bodyguards. And no-one noticed.

Bowie Stuns Paris !

Bowie Wong that is - the Australian fashion designer has been featured with some of the world's top designers like Schiaparelli, Chanel and Versace in this feature of OTT (over the top) designs. They describe the gown as This Round Dress.
 What fun !

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The Australia Day honours have featured two of Whisper's favourite characters.
Popular show business publicist Bruce Pollack (below right) who has handled some of the biggest stars in the world has been awarded a Member of the Order of Australia “for significant service to the community in the areas of social welfare and public health.” Pollack is also an LBGT activist who helped make the  Sydney Mardi Gras one of the most famous street events on the planet.


 Meanwhile in the snooty Southern Highlands young newspaper executive Cristian King  (pictured with former PM Julia Gillard) who publishes the LatteLife group of newspapers has been awarded a Certificate of Appreciation for his "outstanding contribution to the community of Wingecarribee Shire". Pretty heady stuff for a lad of just 20 years old who recently defended himself in court when a local councilor attempted to obtain an AVO order against him. The councilor sensibly dropped her request. King also broadcasts on local FM radio.