I'd go with with MathNut's thorn among the roses. It does not have negative implications where I come from (Malaysia).

I, too have heard the saying "cock of the walk" - although in my ignorance (or not?), I thought it was "cock of the woods".

In answer to the original question relating to one guy amongst a few/several women, the English word "lucky" comes to mind.

I also thought the other saying was used in a reverse situation, i.e. one woman amongst guys, is known as "a rose amongst thorns".

When I moved to Heidiland in the seventies, there still were old farmers who where known for their basket roosters (Chorbgüggel in Swiss German). Those animals, in slaughtered, plucked and drawn form, of course, were favored by many cooks over store-bought chicken because of their particularly tender meat.

The reason for the term and for the tenderness was very simple: The young rooster was kept in a big upside-down basket for several months, so it could not run free nor do much else of what roosters usually are meant to do, while still being fed as if he were very active. That forced physical inactivity made the tender muscles, and the technique made the term.

So a Güggel (= Hahn = rooster) im Chorb (= Korb = basket) was an creature that had nothing to do yet was the center of attention and care. Transfer that to humans and you get someone who is being taken care of from all sides. Pretty simple.

It was much later that Swiss restaurants of the around-the-corner pork-cutlets-fries-and-tossed-salad kind began serving "Güggeli im Chörbli," a fried chicken in a little basket, obviously not knowing where the term originally came from.

My first thought was Cock of the roost

The male bird or rooster/cock, amongst the chickens or hens, which is ultimately, the roost.

Mmmm. That just got my mouth watering for this place — but it's out of range at the moment (by a few thousand km).