Jock Zonfrillo’s top-secret Sydney funeral

A small circle of close-knit friends will bid farewell to celebrity chef Jock Zonfrillo at a top-secret, private funeral in Sydney on Saturday. Invitations went out earlier in the week from Zonfrillo’s widow, Lauren Fried, the mother of his two youngest children.

Chef Jock Zonfrillo.Credit: James Brickwood

Hand-picked attendees representing close friends, colleagues and family have been informed there will be no wake after the service, with strict instructions the details of where and when it is taking place not be shared.

“The family just wants it to happen without any of the attention which his death has attracted, which has understandably been overwhelming. They’re trying to keep it as personal as they can, it’s critical they be given that space to do that,” one of the attendees, who asked not to be named, explained to PS.

Despite having called Melbourne home recently, Sydney was chosen for Zonfrillo’s funeral because it is where his wife comes from and where her extended family is based. The chef also lived here when he first came to Australia 23 years ago and raised his now-grown children from previous marriages here.

Lauren and Jock Zonfrillo at Flemington Racecourse in 2019.Credit: Sam Tabone

It was also in Sydney where he kicked his heroin habit. It was after he moved to Adelaide and opened the doors of his award-winning Orana restaurant that Zonfrillo’s career took off. This in turn led to his gig as a judge on MasterChef, with his family moving to Melbourne.

His funeral comes nearly two weeks after Zonfrillo’s death sent shockwaves through the Australian showbiz, food and media landscapes. On May 1, Zonfrillo was found dead at an address on Lygon Street in Melbourne. This was later revealed to be Zagame’s House, a luxury boutique hotel where he was staying ahead of his publicity engagements for MasterChef, which was scheduled to screen the next day.

Police issued a statement saying: “Police attended a Lygon Street address for a welfare check and located a man deceased about 2am on 1 May. Police will prepare a report for the Coroner following the death of a man in Carlton. The 46-year-old man’s death is not being treated as suspicious.”

Since then, it has emerged the welfare check had been requested by Zonfrillo’s widow, who was in Italy with their two young children while her celebrity husband was in Melbourne to promote the upcoming MasterChef season.

A report is being prepared for the coroner, however, details of how Zonfrillo died have not been disclosed.

Nor has his family made any public comment on his death since releasing an initial statement that said: “With completely shattered hearts and without knowing how we can possibly move through life without him, we are devastated ... So many words can describe him, so many stories can be told, but at this time we’re too overwhelmed to put them into words.”

Tamarama bungalow tales

It was better than any episode of those endless luxury real estate TV shows as the rumour mill went into overdrive about who had bought the $50 million “humble” bungalow on the clifftop overlooking Tamarama.

An eye for good real estate and architecture: Sydney man David Droga.

On Friday, the Australian Financial Review reported it was former Sydney advertising executive David Droga, a self-made man who has conquered the international advertising world and has a keen eye for real estate and a passion for architecture – both bold and quaint.

But there were other potential buyers clearly enjoying their brief moment in the spotlight: enter stage right colourful former Sydney property developer Albert Bertini.

“Oh mate, I don’t want to comment on that,” insisted an unusually coy Bertini, refusing to deny the rumour.

Once a close mate of Hollywood star Russell Crowe, Bertini was the talk of Mosman when he wanted to burrow 18 metres below his former trophy home to install a lift to his boat shed. In more recent years, he’s been making waves on his own remote Fijian isle he endearingly calls “Gillian’s Island”.

Sydney property developer Albert Bertini in 2012.Credit: Simon Alekna

Tamarama locals breathed a sigh of relief as Droga’s name was reported, with hopes high he will retain the house and its outdoor brick BBQ, both local landmarks for generations, rather than build a shiny James Bond-style lair with a lift to the beach.

Avalon Keating steps out

Avalon Keating at the Common Hours fashion show.Credit: Simon Lekias

Billed simply as “Look 27” at Thursday night’s Common Hours fashion show in Potts Point, the model wearing the “Blow Up” tuck-waisted gown with front hook closure, crafted from midnight high-sheen fabric milled in Korea, was much more than just a number.

Grandfather Paul Keating.Credit: Louise Kennerley

Emerging Sydney model Avalon Keating, 17, is the daughter of Common Hours founder and creative director Amber Symond, and her first husband, Patrick Keating, the son of former prime minister Paul Keating.

Symond has since remarried billionaire Aussie Home Loans founder John, who has been a doting stepfather to her daughters, who also include Avalon’s younger sister, Slade.

But it was Avalon who was the star of the show on Thursday night, her chic bob and good genes radiating under the spotlights. Her garment was certainly less revealing than some others on display, with racy lace numbers and zippered contraptions leaving little to the imagination.

Young Keating’s appearance on the catwalk was met with rapturous applause from her legion of fans in the audience at the Potts Point show, held in a $12.5 million terrace Symond bought in 2020 and just a stone’s throw from her famous grandfather’s home.

Amber and John Symond in Sydney in March.Credit: Brandon Thorne

Germani loses its sparkle

In the heady 1980s and into the 1990s, Lebanese immigrant jeweller Michel Germani was a regular feature in Sydney’s social columns. His store became a household name thanks to its jewels being given away as glittering prizes on Sale Of The Century.

Germani beguiled Sydney A-listers with stories of designing jewels for Saudi and British royalty, and Hollywood queen Liz Taylor.

There were the fabulous parties hosted by his former wife, the dark-haired beauty Yasmin. They sipped Laurent-Perrier at the Black and White Society’s fabled balls.

Michel Germani, the owner of Germani Jewellery.

It was all a far cry from the police cell the 65-year-old is currently languishing in, accused of faking a robbery at the Germani Jewellery store on George Street in January in an alleged attempt to defraud his insurer of $2.8 million.

His wife, Coco, this week told reporters her husband was innocent. Police have stated they are not investigating another robbery at his jewellery store in 2020, which had also made headlines.

On Monday, Germani was charged with aggravated robbery and depriving a person of liberty, attempting to dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception, publish false misleading material to obtain property and participate in a criminal group contributing to criminal activity.

On Thursday, his defence lawyer Andrew Stewart successfully applied to have the matter adjourned for a week, with a bail application expected.

So in Vogue

Christine Centenera and Joel Edgerton at a screening of the film Thirteen Lives in London last year.Credit: AP

Vogue Australia’s globe-trotting, recently installed editor-in-chief Christine Centenera will be making a rare appearance back in Sydney on Monday to throw a party in The Rocks with Margot Robbie to celebrate the actor’s gin label and Australian Fashion Week.

The soirée’s guest list is so exclusive, PS has no idea if anyone else will be invited beyond the fly-in-fly-out Centenera and the equally international Robbie.

Melbourne snub from Humphries

While Barry Humphries’ London-based son Oscar told The Australian on Friday the family’s choice of Sydney over Melbourne for an upcoming state memorial was not a “snub” of the comedian’s old home town, there is no denying it is certainly being interpreted that way south of the border.

Sources close to the late Humphries, who kept a home in Sydney for more than 40 years, claim the comedian, who was lucid until shortly before his death on April 22, gave firm instructions to reject a state funeral if it was offered by the Victorian government.

Barry Humphries on tour in 2018.

The sticking point appears to be Humphries’ indignation over what he saw as the Victorian government’s lack of intervention after he was “cancelled” by the Melbourne Comedy Festival, who removed his name from the event he co-founded after his controversial comments about transgender people. The festival is funded to the tune of more than $7 million through the state-funded Creative Victoria body.

No details have been released about when and where the memorial will be held, though whispers suggest the comedian’s preferred venue was the Sydney Opera House. However, given the house is about to host US President Joe Biden and co for the Quad Leaders’ Summit on May 24, nothing could happen there for several weeks yet.

Expo of fabulousness

In a city that practically invented the modern-day drag queen, next weekend’s Drag Expo at the International Convention Centre couldn’t happen soon enough.

Coming to Sydney: Drag star Art Simone.Credit: Samuel Graves

While an army of misguided zealots have declared war on these 21st-century court jesters, organisers are expecting more than 10,000 people will file through the doors to see a collection of the world’s top drag artists mime and dazzle their way to fabulousness.

International stars Jinkx Monsoon, who has starred in Dr Who and on Broadway in Chicago, Alaska, Monet X Change, Trinity The Tuck, Pangina Heals, Sminty Drop and Baga Chipz will be joining local queens Art Simone and Vanity Faire, in what promises to be a fun weekend.

“This is a celebration of artistry, culture and freedom of expression ... it’s not political beyond being about inclusion and diversity,” organiser Stephen Craddock told PS. “We want to share our culture of drag with anyone who wants to see it, and from previous experience the vast majority of those people are straight.”

Roll out the red carpet

While Cannes, Berlin, Venice and Sundance film festivals are all about the stars and the red carpet, for the 70th Sydney Film Festival it’s still about the movies ... mostly.

Star attraction: Mia Wasikowska will be a big part of this year’s Sydney Film Festival.Credit: Belinda Rolland

Sadly, there will be no Cate Blanchett on the red carpet at the State Theatre in June when her film with director Warwick Thornton, The New Boy, opens the festival following its world premiere at the glitzy Cannes festival next week. However, PS hears the equally talented Mia Waskikowska will be a significant presence during the festival, though it is unclear in what capacity. Perhaps a jury member?

Some visiting stars have been more memorable than others, as film critic and former festival director Paul Byrnes recalled to PS of the time in 1987 when France’s cinematic superstar Gerard Depardieu left his mark ... quite literally.

He was swamped by fans at a cocktail party and charmed festival publicist Susan Wilson, declaring with his trademark French panache her lipstick shade was “absolutely perfect” for her colouring. She later admitted: “I didn’t change it for five years afterwards.”

Indeed, Byrnes discovered that for himself when he applied what he thought was lip balm for his chaffed lips during the festival, only to discover he had mistakenly applied Wilson’s lippy and looked like a crazed clown when the lights came on.

Geoffrey Rush and director Scott Hicks were in the audience for one of the festival’s biggest opening nights for the 1996 film Shine, which went on to become a box-office success and won an Oscar for Rush.

Scott Hicks and Geoffrey Rush on the set of Shine.

Hollywood icon Jimmy Stewart was awed by the State Theatre in 1982, with its nude statues, sweeping staircases and old-style disappearing organ.

The festival has also hosted the likes of Hollywood’s “Golden Age” directors Josef von Sternberg and Rouben Mamoulian, the Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni, Paul Schrader who wrote the screenplay for Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, and Hollywood heartthrobs Warren Beatty and Michael York.