This Australian is turning travel into a group hang for the A-list
by Anna McCooe · Australian Financial ReviewAnna McCooeSenior travel writer
May 13, 2026 – 5.00am
It’s April in Milan and the upper echelons of the design world are converging on the city. Tomorrow they will fan out across the palatial halls of Salone del Mobile, the world’s pre-eminent furniture fair. But tonight, the action is condensed in the neoclassical apartment of Australian travel impresario David Prior. It’s his annual spaghetti party – or spaghettata, as they say in these cobbled streets – and it’s already a pre-show ritual, even in its second year.
Always impeccable, fashion designer JJ Martin is present, not deterred by red-sauced dishes in a standing-room-only situation. As is Allegra Hicks, the aristocrat and lifestyle entrepreneur known for her sense of eccentric glamour. New York chef Andy Baraghani and socialite Derek Blasberg are in on the action. And Prior – the Brisbane-born founder of the travel company of the same name – is ladling ragù over tagliatelle, always the beau of the pasta bowl.
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Anna McCooeSenior travel writerAnna McCooe is The Australian Financial Review’s senior travel writer.
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