A beloved and central figure in the cultural life of Australia, Mirka Mora long captured the public imagination with her distinctive art and inimitable personality.  Arriving in Melbourne from Paris in 1951, Mirka and her husband Georges contributed significantly to the local art and restaurant scenes and the city’s gradual transformation into a sophisticated metropolis. Their apartment at 9 Collins Street became a hub for the bohemian set, which transferred to Mirka Café in Exhibition Street in 1954 and their two subsequent restaurants, Café Balzac in East Melbourne and Tolarno French Bistro in St Kilda. 

The lecture opens with Mirka and Georges’ early lives and food experiences in France, then tells the stories of their celebrated hospitality in Australia and their intermingling of food, art, love and life. The culinary journey is interspersed with fascinating anecdotes, archival photographs, Mirka’s sensuous and colourful artworks.