Susan Blumberg-Kason

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Godown, part deux

July 11, 2010 By Susan Blumberg-Kason 6 Comments

click to enlarge

I couldn’t resist.

I found this 1972 ad for the Godown Bistro’s sister restaurant–the Godown Restaurant, across the Harbor in Hong Kong’s Central district.

The ad is just as colonial as the Bistro’s:

It has the same intimate, friendly atmosphere and the waitresses are all European. The food is excellent and in the medium price range which suits the resident Europeans who regard it as their ‘local’.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the guy holding a cigarette and wearing the chef’s hat in the top photo is the same as the one staring into the camera in the bottom photo.

He looks strikingly similar to the man smoking a cigarette in the Bistro ad–Godown owner Bill Nash.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Hong Kong

Comments

  1. Susan Blumberg-Kason says

    July 10, 2014 at 9:42 pm

    Wow! What amazing memories! I also got engaged in Hong Kong, but it wasn’t nearly as exciting as this! That must have been when they were filming Shanghai Surprise!

    Reply
  2. paul says

    June 3, 2014 at 10:02 am

    ooh la…………the back drop to my life………….i proposed to my wife in the old godown, Carol and Bill got the champagne in, Anthony and Gill bought it to the table, Portia supervised, Sean Penn and Madonna wished us well. Seems like yesterday.Mwa mwa

    Reply
  3. Kathryn says

    July 8, 2011 at 10:13 pm

    Yes, that is Bill but he was not actually smoking that cigarette. In 1979 he said to me: “I’ve never smoked a cigarette in my life and I thank Christ every day for that.” The Godown closed in 1998.

    Reply
    • Susan Blumberg-Kason says

      July 8, 2011 at 11:02 pm

      Thanks, Kathryn. That’s so fascinating. Fortunately, people don’t have to pretend to smoke these days. Sad to hear the Godown closed.

      Reply
  4. Pete says

    July 12, 2010 at 7:25 am

    I think it’s actually the same shot from different angles.

    I used to go to the Godown a lot in the early 90s, but by that time it had moved to Admiralty.

    Reply
    • Susan Blumberg-Kason says

      July 12, 2010 at 7:57 am

      Yes, I think you’re right! I guess they switched hats between shoots. The Godown is still around, no?

      Reply

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