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.
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!
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
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.
Thanks, Kathryn. That’s so fascinating. Fortunately, people don’t have to pretend to smoke these days. Sad to hear the Godown closed.
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.
Yes, I think you’re right! I guess they switched hats between shoots. The Godown is still around, no?