It was only last year that controversial Icebergs founder Maurice Terzini was forced out of his own restaurant amid allegations he verbally abused his wife and protected his son while being aware of sexual assault claims against him. (Terzini and his son deny the allegations.)
Now it looks like Terzini has booked the first stop on his salvation tour. The Icebergs founder has started hosting dinners for $130 per person (plus drinks) at a homeless shelter in Rushcutters Bay. The shelter is run out of St Canice’s, which, according to the church’s website, is named after the Irish “patron saint of the shipwrecked”.
Tickets for the “cucina povera” (poor kitchen) event give guests the option to donate separately to the church. A St Canice’s spokesperson said the dinners would help fund a kitchen redevelopment.
“Everyone in the community is welcome, and we are grateful for every bit of support we receive in helping to feed those who would otherwise go without,” the spokesperson said.
But Terzini and St Canice’s have not responded to questions about what proportion of the costs of the tickets will go to the charity, which has provided daily lunches to the homeless for more than three decades.
The move has already raised eyebrows among some neighbours, CBD hears, who are worried by the prospect of one of Sydney’s only homeless kitchens being commercialised. We can only guess that Terzini has other things on his mind.
Among them will no doubt be Billy the Pig, his Bondi Junction public bar which has become the latest in a string of failed businesses for the former hospitality icon.
Terzini blamed the collapse of Billy the Pig on negative media coverage and the impact on his mental health. But liquidators claimed in a report to ASIC the company was trading while insolvent from its first day in October 2024, five months before the first article was published that triggered Terzini’s demise from Icebergs.
Nicholas Wollinski, a liquidator at the firm Hall Chadwick, has claimed to creditors that Billy the Pig never had enough money to absorb trading losses or meet its tax obligations, leaving suppliers unpaid and Terzini’s company on the hook for more than $600,000 to creditors, including $276,000 in rent to his landlord, Westfield Bondi Junction.
Reached this week, Terzini said: “It’s wonderful to be supporting the great work that St Canice’s Kitchen does for the community.” As you probably could’ve guessed, there was no word when we later followed up with questions about Billy the Pig.
Spotted: Paul Howes, Olivia Wirth, Christopher Pyne at Gran Torino
The last time our spies spotted former KPMG partner and erstwhile Labor powerbroker Paul Howes out and about, he was tucking into some crab pasta and steak at Melbourne’s Di Stasio Citta with his new colleague, Luke Sayers, of penis scandal fame.
At the very least, it looks like the man has a taste for Italian cuisine. Howes was spotted by another CBD spy with his wife and Myer executive chairman Olivia Wirth having dinner on Wednesday night with former Coalition defence minister turned lobbyist Christopher Pyne at Neil Perry’s Gran Torino in Double Bay, where an 800-gram dry-aged T-bone steak will set you back $240.
But dinner clearly wasn’t enough for Howe and Pyne. Because the pair were spotted again – by the same CBD spy, no less – the following morning, catching up at the Aperture Cafe in the Capella Hotel. It bears noting that Sayers’ recently rebranded Tenet Advisory, where Howes is chief executive, and Pyne’s lobbying shop Pyne & Partners, share some clients in common.
We can only guess the old friends sought to keep business and pleasure separate.
SBS gets its back up
Well, it looks like it wasn’t just western Sydney MPs left with a sour taste in their mouths after the Albanese government reversed a commitment this week to expand SBS to western Sydney.
The multicultural broadcaster’s Artarmon HQ clearly isn’t happy either. SBS issued a rare statement on Thursday following revelations in this column that the mooted western Sydney expansion was set to cost $181 million and earmarked Blacktown as the preferred location.
In the statement, SBS said the broadcaster “worked constructively” with the government for almost four years.
It then pointed out that the $181 million project cost was “the highest-cost option over a four-year period”, and would’ve included the production of a new drama series on location in western Sydney.
“SBS strongly supported this project and was ready to deliver it, subject to funding. We are disappointed that funding will not be provided at this time due to the current fiscal environment,” the broadcaster said.
Missing in action Anika Wells turns up for Queen Mary
Dog walkers and evening exercisers were left doing double-takes on Wednesday as Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens shut early for the red carpet to be rolled out for a night with Fred and Mary.
Better known as King Frederik X and Queen Mary of Denmark, the couple presided over “An Evening in the Garden”, a thank-you function to mark the last night of their visit to Melbourne that doubled as a convergence of political, business and diplomatic types.
Under-pressure Premier Jacinta Allan, dressed in a white suit, led the local contingent, flanked by federal ministers Attorney-General Michelle Rowland and Transport Minister Catherine King.
CBD was pleased to spot Minister for Sport and Communications Anika Wells exchanging niceties with the royals. Wounded from her expenses scandal late last year, Wells was notably absent from major sporting events over summer, but in recent weeks was at the Australian Grand Prix supporting Motorsport Australia’s Girls on Track program, and attended the Matildas v South Korea soccer match on March 8. Wells is expected to be at the Asian Cup final in Sydney on Saturday cheering on the Matildas as they take on Japan.
Others in attendance included Governor-General Sam Mostyn.
A sniffly Frederik dispensed with formality early, telling the crowd about his first tour to Australia after his marriage to Mary when he overheard a child ask: “Mummy, who is that boy next to Mary?”
“In the eyes of Australia, I suspect I shall always be the one standing next to Mary,” he said.
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John Buckley is a CBD columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.
Fiona Byrne is the CBD columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.