Catering impresario Bruce Keebaugh had instructed Melbourne to arrive by 6pm. And Melbourne was there on time.
In fact, Melbourne was early.
Bruce and Chyka Keebaugh at the 35th anniversary bash for The Big Group.Credit: Reggie Karon
By the time CBD arrived at the heritage-listed Commons Collective, just off St Kilda Road, slightly after 6pm, there were dozens of Melebrities already in position. They were there to celebrate the 35th anniversary of The Big Group, the hospitality empire Bruce and Chyka Keebaugh founded when they were both 21 and which now caters practically every major corporate event and billionaire bar mitzvah in this city.
Ann Peacock, Victoria Racing Club board member, was our first encounter, and typically, she had news. A spot fire had broken out minutes earlier in the conservatory, the function space at the front of the hospitality complex. The damage was minor – possibly caused by a wayward candle – and the potentially disastrous incident added a theatrical flourish to kick off the night. The conservatory was repurposed as a bookshop to sell the group’s luxe arthouse-style tome celebrating 35 years, By Invitation Only (RRP $150).
Guests imbibed Piper-Heidsieck champagne and gimlets garnished with eucalyptus leaves; they snacked on sushi and blackened prawn toast while an army of orderlies carried forth enormous martini glasses filled with Marie Rose sauce and laced with prawns alongside prosciutto trees.
“John Gandel is going to be here – he never comes to anything,” said one guest.
And sure enough, the retail patriarch, who developed Chadstone Shopping Centre, had a prime table inside the hall for the cabaret and speeches. (Keebaugh’s invitation included the instructions: “7pm sharp - SHOW TO COMMENCE, Ballroom doors will close ... You snooze, you lose!” )
Celebrating The Big Group, cabaret-style.Credit: Reggie Karon
The lights went down and the green velvet curtain parted to reveal an acrobatics show that morphed into a cabaret show inspired equal parts by A Chorus Line and 9 to 5. As Keebaugh pointed out, none of his family or staff were ever 9-to-5 people. They were hospitality nomads, going where and when the job demanded.
Eddie McGuire borrowed Jean Cocteau’s descriptor “poets of great times” and lauded The Big Group for its role in the Melbourne major events economy and for catering not just his engagement party to Carla but also his wedding.
“The occasion was magnificent, and one that we hope to have paid off by the time it is my 70th,” McGuire said.
Chyka explained that she and Bruce created The Big Group when they were both 21.
“I never thought we’d be in this place. We started The Big Group as a great way of making some money. We thought we’d backpack around Europe for a year,” she said.
Bruce promised not to give a long and boring speech, telling the audience he had endured enough of those in his time, which prompted the room, filled with Big Group clients, to stir.
“The work that we do is in the world of temporary. We’re architects of experience. We are makers of dreams. We’re sellers of memories. But when that Big Group circus rolls on, for our team, there is nothing left.”
He then got emotional as he recounted meeting his wife when they were flying to Brisbane to do a catering job for Christopher and Pixie Skase.
“Chook, thank bloody God you got on that plane. While The Big Group is nothing without its clients, team and suppliers, I am not much without you.”
Visit Victoria chair Andy Penn and wife Kallie Blauhorn were spotted chatting to Gandel Group chief executive Dion Werbeloff and Caroline “Ralph” Ralphsmith, chief executive of the Melbourne Fashion Festival. National Gallery of Victoria trustees president and friend of the column, the always interesting Janet Whiting, was nearby.
Rozalia and Nick Russian. Credit: Reggie Karon
In an anteroom off the ballroom, at least nine cakes were laid out, as Chyka mingled with the Pratt sisters, Fiona Geminder and Heloise Waislitz, who was with her partner, Noiseworks singer Jon Stevens.
Other attendees spotted on the night include: nightclub owner Nick Russian and wife Rozalia; transport executive Andrew Fox and wife Fiona; Australian Open boss Craig Tiley; former lord mayor Sally Capp and husband Andrew Sutherland; current Lord Mayor Nick Reece; Tourism Australia chair Penny Fowler; (appropriately) Major Events Minister Steve Dimopoulos; and former governor Linda Dessau and husband Tony Howard.
For the couple of a business that is a pillar of the major events economy, it was only right that their party was a major event. According to their PR rep, 700 people attended.
Postscript: Bruce Keebaugh was due at Richmond Fitness First for an appointment with his personal trainer Thomas Spangenberg at 7am on Thursday. CBD can reveal he made the appointment.