User:Big silver earrings/Christine Manfield

Christine Manf\ is an Australian restauranteur and cookbook author. She currently runs Universal Restaurant in the Sydney suburb of Darlinghurst. She is considered one of Australia best chefs, although she does not enjoy the same media superstardom of her contemporaries, such as Neil Perry.

Paramount Restaurant
Christine Manfield opened Paramount Restaurant in Sydney 1993 with long-term partner Margie Harris as the front-of-house manager. It closed in 2000.

East@West
In 2003 restaurant-owner Chris Bodker invited Christine Manfield to open East@West, a combined restaurant and lounge bar, in London West End (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/giles_coren/article1025218.ece). True to its name, East@West served Asian inluenced food, usually referred to as fusion food by British reviewers (http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2003/dec/21/foodanddrink.shopping1). East@West broke away from traditional a la carte dining and instead offered two or three degustation menus, each comprising 5 small dishes. During its 15-month tenure the restaurant garnered mainly positive reviews from both The Guardian and The Times, was nomiated for a number of awards and was crowned Tatler's Best New Restaurant 2004 (http://www.christinemanfield.com/rest_text.html).

East@West closed in 2005 when it was sold by its owners.

Universal Restaurant
Universal opened in Sydney Darlinghurst in 2007 and marked Christine Manfield's return to the Australian dining scene and has been well received by Australian restaurant critics. Unlike East@West, Universal offers an a la carte menu of approximately 10 small dishes, allowing diners to chose as few or as many as they like. Dishes display numerous influences from cuisines around the world. Pat Nourse of Australian Gourmet Traveller and Simon Tomsen of the ][Sydney Morning Herald]] gave Universal positive reviews, both noting the inventiveness evident in the dishes. http://www.smh.com.au/news/restaurant-reviews/universal/2007/09/18/1189881469042.html http://gourmettraveller.com.au/universal_restaurant_sydney.htm

Cooking Style
Christine Manfield's focus has always been on spices. Her restaurants and food writings display influences from many of the world's cuisines, with a particular emphasis on South Asia. She is seen as an innovative chef and the emphasis of both East@West and Universal has been on new and creative dishes.

Other work
Christine Manfield leads food-related tours.