Author: R. Ian Jack, St. Andrew’s College, University of Sydney NSW 2006
Extract from the – Blue Mountains History Journal 5; 2014
Abstract:
In 2016 the Paragon Café in Katoomba will celebrate its centenary. During its first thirty years, the Simos family created an institution which stood out among the Greek cafés of Australia for its stylishness and flair. Its Art Deco features, the work of distinguished and well-chosen architects, designers and artists, have survived with unusual integrity in three downstairs salons. But as well as its public face, the Paragon has a contrasting industrial space upstairs, where for eighty years its renowned chocolates have been manufactured and its baking accomplished. Much of this early machinery, imported from the world’s best suppliers, is still upstairs, though no longer all in situ. It is this combination of Art Deco public space with industrial archaeology which gives the Paragon exceptionally high significance.
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