No one throws a party like Nadia. So break out the blender, it’s Piña Colada time!
Nadia Fairfax is a self-confessed party girl. She likes to celebrate life with good people, good places, and good food and drink. “I’m not someone who’ll ever only drink white wine,” she laughs, instead preferring variety and being inspired by different influences. Ultimately, being creative. It’s what the creative director and former fashion publicist loves about her work. “Working with a brand on the creative or an event from start to finish, from the guest list to the tablescape, I love putting that all into the washing machine and turning out a really special event that makes people happy.” Joy is the goal of much of Nadia’s life, which is why she leans into colour and quirk. “I’m a bit over the whole monochrome garbage,” she says of her recently bright, fun (and, of course, very cool) home renovation. “That’s where my head is at – colour and texture bring so much joy. That’s the way I dress, how I style my home and I guess it’s the way I host, too.”
To her nearly 200K followers, Nadia is a style master, a chicness guru we can all aspire to be like. Of her event-decorating style, Nadia believes “the more peculiar, the better”, such as the obscurity of a row of olives, bizarre florals or mismatched glassware as pleasing touches. “There's something sort of alluring and cooler about the unexpected,” she says. “I threw a New Year's bash a few years ago and we just did a barbecue, but on each plate I put a full pineapple, you know, just as a prop. We had a lot of pineapple that summer!” In true Nadia spirit, Piña Coladas are a favourite.
- Q.What kind of home cook are you?
“I don’t do the cooking, that’s my husband’s department. Michael’s really, really good. People beg for his food, and he can do anything – Italian, Mexican or a really great Sunday roast. I do the drinks and ambience, like the tablescape and music. Everything, bar the food, is mine to manage, and I tend to theme the evening to the food. Recently we had friends over and he decided to make lamb sandwiches, so I styled around them. It was very backyard-y, which we don’t normally do. I had a rug outside and put out lilos so it was very relaxed.”
- Q.What drinks do you keep on hand at home?
“I keep a fully stocked alcohol cabinet. We have lots of gins and vodkas, and Michael likes to have a Scotch with the boys, but I’m never in a situation where people are coming over and I don’t have something to serve them or have to duck to the bottle shop. I like ordering ahead. I did a big order of beautiful Penfolds reds and whites to serve over the silly season.”
- Q.What do you usually pour for guests?
“Michael makes a really nice Martini, but I'm a bit lazy, so if I’m making the drinks, you'll get a vodka, lime and soda or a gin and tonic with a garnish. I’m a bit shocking when it comes to making drinks, but that’s why I like a good Champagne, usually Moët. Champagne is always great because it’s easy to serve, and I think people feel special drinking it.”
- Q.What makes a great event?
“There’s a lot, but first: finessing the guest list, whether it’s large or small, is really important, and a bit of a lost skill. Often at bigger brand events, the host thinks they have to ask people who they want to sit with or sit people together because they’ve got a particular Instagram following, but that doesn’t necessarily work. It’s better to think about the conversation, mutual interests and what people might get from each other. Even having people to your home, not everyone always has to know each other or sit next to their partner – sitting different people together can inspire lively conversations that are always more fabulous and memorable.
“Second, the drinks. There is absolutely nothing worse than drinking a bad wine. Even at our wedding, we cut other things to make sure we had great alcohol, including Moët Champagne. It's so important. It’s also important to cater for your guests’ tastes, so at our wedding we had a star bartender mixing Martinis any way you like them.”
- Q.What’s your go-to drink order at a bar?
“Piña Colada – if I could drink them all the time, I would. Put me on a beach, in the sun, on a lounge chair with a Piña Colada and I’m set. I love them so much, but they can be a bit heavy with all the coconut cream. Lately I’ve gone to a few great places that serve these ‘Naked Coladas’, which are like a clarified cocktail. It uses a technique called ‘milk-washing’ so it doesn’t have as much of the pulp from the fruit, it’s almost like a Piña Colada made into a spirit. I had a Naked Bloody Mary in Noosa, too. I should say, though, my choices ebb and flow with my location, the weather, even who I’m with. I’ll go through a phase of loving a particular wine and ordering it everywhere for three months and then I’ll move on.”
- Q.What’s the best restaurant you’ve ever eaten at?
“The middle of last year I went to Plaza Athénée in Paris. It's pretty cool. It looks super fancy and it is, but this chef (Jean Imbert) has taken it over. He's young and modern and, basically, he's taken all the old-school luxury French cuisine and cool-ed it up. So you're in this very gilded and grand dining room, you feel like Marie Antoinette would eat there, but the food is just delicious. The service is unbelievable and the wine matches are spectacular. It was just such a special experience. After I went, Beyoncé was there a week later. “The Grill in New York is another international favourite. They do this amazing pasta a la presse with an old-school pasta press from back in the day, and it's just so delicious. The sauce! Yum.
“Here in Sydney, there are a lot I love, but we often go to a place called Cipri in Paddington. It's just a nice Italian, but they do these great opera nights where a singer performs, and it’s always themed, like Pavarotti. We always have the best time and are all singing by the end.”
- Q.Why is it important to celebrate your birthday?
“I never used to when I was younger, but as I'm getting older I enjoy it more. I think we spend so much of our time doing things for other people, preparing things for other people, looking after other people, celebrating other people. I always think, okay, now it's my turn! That may seem a little narcissistic, but why not? I love having a good time with my friends and if you have the opportunity to do something, why wouldn’t you?”
- Q.What’s your best-ever birthday celebration?
“My 30th. It was the April before Covid hit and we had 30 friends come over to Miami for a week of events. We went to great restaurants, had beach days, we went bowling one night and to this famous Miami strip club where Tom Brady goes. It’s more Cirque du Soleil, but it's a bit risque. They still do Tissu performances with aerial silks, and then they've got amazing music and a DJ, so that was really cool and very Miami. Another night we went into Little Havana to go Latin salsa dancing. It was amazing.”
- Q.What’s the key to having fun at a party?
“When you're the host, I think the key is not to sweat the small stuff. No one is noticing things out of place or off-schedule, but they do notice how much love and time you give them. Focus your time on your friends and family rather than worrying about a candle that’s gone out, and they'll have much more appreciation for you and what you've put on for them. If you’re a guest, leave your worries at the door, and let it all out on the dance floor. You should always dance if you hear music you love, even if no one else is.”
- Q.Any tips for getting a dance floor started?
“I get in trouble with my friends for this all the time, but I'll pick a song that I'm really loving at the moment and I'll ask the DJ to play it, and then I go around to a few of my key friends and say, ‘When that song comes on, you better meet me on the dance floor!’ I put the pressure on and always tell people from different groups. Then, when the song comes on, you get trickles of people from all corners of the party. Next minute, you’ve got everyone!”
Let’s plan… “My Tutti Frutti birthday!”
- Q.Who’s coming?
“I always do a dinner with family for my birthday, but for the parties, it’s just friends.”
- Q.What’s the brief for your guests?
“Tutti frutti, and not just because sometimes my friends call me ‘Fruitfax’. It’s a good one because it’s open to your interpretation. It can be a pineapple hair clip or full Carmen Miranda drag. For dress-up themes, I think it’s good to choose something that is easy to do, big or small, because not everyone wants to do a full costume. However, I also think it’s just about what excites and works for you, screw the others. It's your party and you can do what you want!”
- Q.Drink on arrival?
“Champagne – it's such an occasion drink and easy to make quickly if a lot of people arrive at once. Moët is my favourite.”
- Q.What cocktails will be on offer?
“There’ll be multiple options. Of course, classic Piña Coladas with big pineapple wedges because they are my favourite and so perfectly on theme – we’ll use Plantation 3 Stars White Rum as the base. Or people can opt for a gin and tonic using Malfy Rosa Gin. It’s the Sicilian Pink Grapefruit flavour and I think it just adds a better sensory experience. It smells beautiful, the colour is exciting, and the taste is almost transportative to an Italian holiday. Serve them with a lemon circle rather than wedge. Much more glamorous.”
- Q.What wine will you serve for the main meal?
“Penfolds Max’s Chardonnay is a great-tasting wine and the ladies all love a chardonnay. It’s a perfect one with food so we’ll serve it when we sit down for dinner. For my birthday, I'm just going to get the food catered – we're really not sure what yet, but something fabulous.”
- Q.The birthday cake?
“There are so many beautiful cakes, but can you beat a classic chocolate mud cake? Great for late in the night when the crew have moved on to the Glenmorangie.”
- Q.How will you decorate for the event?
“This is a party that will take over the whole house, moving from room to room: Champagne at the entrance, cocktails and canapes in the lounge, into the dining room for dinner, and then everywhere becomes a dance floor. In terms of decor, the theme is easy because fruit is so beautiful. Papaya, dragonfruit, cherries, pineapple – they are so unique and intricate. Just as much as flowers. Cut them open so they can be snacks too.”
