Christine Manfield (b.1953), once described as the 'high priestess of modern Sydney cooking', established her reputation at the Paragon Café, which opened in 1991, and founded its successor, the Paramount, in 1993. She closed the Paramount in 2000 to focus on writing and consultancies. Later, she ran a venture in London, East @West, which she closed in 2005; her Sydney restaurant Universal was open from 2007 to 2013. Famed for combining and experimenting with diverse cuisines, Manfield believes that 'we are all faced with mediocrity in food, my mission is to elevate it'. Selina Snow pictured her with some of the desserts for which she is particularly renowned. She now leads tours to such destinations as India, Africa, South America and Morocco, writes for food and travel magazines, and markets a range of prepared foods. Her books include Paramount Cooking (1996), Paramount Desserts (1997), Spice (1999), Stir (2002), Tasting India (2011), Dessert Divas (2014) and A Personal Guide to India and Bhutan (2015).
Selina Snow’s series of paintings was amongst the earliest acquisitions of the National Portrait Gallery.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 1999
© Selina Snow
Selina Snow (4 portraits)
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
Celebrate the Gallery’s 20th birthday summer with Electric! Portraits that pop! The collection exhibition features a mix of bright, bold and colourful paintings, prints and photographs, and buoyant video portraits.
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