Gatecrasher: best of 2015

BEST EVENT

Melbourne Cup Carnival

Much was made about the lack of "big stars" at this year's Melbourne Cup Carnival; not even the presence of a two-time Academy Award winner, Hilary Swank, a guest of Swisse, was enough for those who prefer their boldfaced names a little more, well, bold, if not as accomplished. What it did, though, was allow for a little more time, a little more space, to focus on beautiful details; voluptuous raspberry roses climbing the wallpaper and blooming on bespoke carpet in the Emirates marquee, a moment in delightful conversation with Stephen Jones OBE and single tulips suspended from the ceiling as far as the eye could see in the Lexus Design Pavilion. Besides, was there a bigger star that week – bolder, more accomplished — than Michelle Payne?

BEST REALIST'S HEART

C.J. Hendry

Thousands of pen strokes go into her coveted art, its well-known owners include Kanye West and Vera Wang, but at the launch of C.J. Hendry's first Melbourne exhibition – 50 Foods in 50 Days on Hermes Plates – presented by Bill Tikos and The Cool Hunter in March even the broadest brush strokes revealed a realist's heart. Hendry was soon to leave for New York where she is now based – "One of the reasons I'm moving to New York is so I can eat ribs every day" – and she spoke about her work. "A lot of art critics are like, 'Oh, but it's so branded,' and I'm, like, 'Yeah!' Fashion designers put on extraordinary fashion shows and spend millions and we want to create that but with art. We want to just do crazy stuff all the time . . . I'm going to draw, if it sells, it sells, f---ing fabulous, if it doesn't, too f---ing bad, Mum can have everything and hang it in her house. She'd be stoked!"

BEST LEFT UNDERFOOT

Sat Bains

Some meals stay with you because of the taste, others you remember forever because of the tale. At the Taste of Melbourne opening night in Albert Park British chef Sat Bains, whose Nottingham restaurant holds two Michelin stars, told a vivid story. "It was at a fish market in Kyoto," he said. "We tried the sea cucumber ovaries – fermented – for the first time and as I was swallowing it, it kind of unraveled and it went halfway down my throat, and because you can't just swallow in gulps, because it's all one piece, I had to keep swallowing and swallowing and swallowing. So it was unravelling and I kept on going down, down, down, and I wasn't right for three days after that. It was like an alien was in my stomach. I was with one of my mates and he goes, 'You eat stuff I wouldn't tread on'."

BEST EXPLORER

Brad Goreski

The stylist and star of Fashion Police on E!, here for the Melbourne Cup Carnival, spent race days in the Mumm marquee but on a day off Goreski and his partner, writer Gary Janetti, explored the city not on the say-so of hotel concierge but with a Melbourne friend they met on Twitter. "Max has been following me for five or six years, he follows Gary as well, he was going through a stage in high school where he was being bullied and he was asking us for advice. On Sunday we had a coffee and he walked us through different parts of the CBD and we just had a lovely time meeting him. As soon as we found out we were coming to Melbourne we were like, 'We have to meet Max!"'

BEST TRAINWRECK

Amy Schumer. When Schumer – the writer and star of Trainwreck and one of TIME magazine's 100 Most Influential People – and her co-star Bill Hader were in town in July, the eyes that Tilda Swinton, another of the movie's stars, had described as "quick, dangerous" were tired, knackered. Still dangerous, though. Schumer's message to the audience at the Jam Factory screening was succinct: "Thank you guys so much for coming. If you like the movie please tweet about it, and if you don't, like, shut the f--k up. No, I'm just kidding."