Page 13: Low-key power pair Chris Lucas and Sarah Lew are sizzling hot

It is hard to find, in a world of wannabes and Insta muppets, but hospitality king Chris Lucas and his glamazon partner, Sarah Lew, have the X-factor.

Chris Lucas and his wife Sarah Lew. Picture: Instagram

It’s that special something. It’s the X-factor that looks effortless. People want to be them and others want to hate on them. It’s that je ne sais quoi that’s impossible to explain.

“It’s just It,” Rudyard Kipling said more than a century ago. “Some women’ll stay in a man’s memory if they once walk down a street.”

But let’s move on from Kipling’s somewhat sexist slant.

It is hard to find in a world of wannabes and Insta muppets, but press enter on Melbourne’s hospitality king Chris Lucas and his glamazon partner Sarah Lew.

The powerbrokers fawn over Lucas and the gays love Lew.

Lucas, the entrepreneur behind some of Melbourne’s hottest restaurants — think Chin Chin, Baby and Hawker Hall — has been sizzling for years.

With opposition pollies showing as much backbone as soggy lettuce, it was Lucas who took on the fight against the hard lockdowns.

He became a faux opposition leader in how to save small business and pull Melbourne back from the brink.

And then there is his partner of about 10 years, Sarah Lew.

The former wife of rich-lister Solly Lew’s son Stevie, Lew is a fashion icon and muse to many behind the scenes.

CEO and founder of Lucas Restaurants, Chris Lucas at Chin Chin. Picture: David Geraghty

“Sarah is the influencers’ influencer,” mused friend and fashion creator Chris Kontos.

“Doll, she was wearing Air Jordans before Hailey Bieber. She sees trends before they hit, She’s iconic.”

Kontos would know, the brand strategist has styled many of our leading ladies, is Bird in Hand PR executive and has worked on pushing the AFLW profile.

“Chris and Sarah are underground. They keep their personal life private, but they throw the best dinner parties.”

Their Toorak pile, styled by Sarah, has been labelled the best house in postcode 3142 by anyone who goes there.

While out and about at many of Melbourne’s biggest events, you won’t see them pushing pictures of themselves on the ’Gram or flogging brands.

The late Andrew Peacock and Susan Renouf were once “it”. Restaurateurs John and Lisa Van Haandel were definitely “it”. Expect to see a lot more of Lucas and Lew.

Lucas is due to open his ambitious new venue, Society, on July 1 at the extravagant 80 Collins St.

Think high society meets edge.

Meanwhile his venture Chin Chin will celebrate 10 years in May with a month of dinner parties, starting with an evening called Chilli Inferno.

It’s just it and a bit!

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