In 1962, Huntington Hartford II, heir to the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company fortune, bought Hog Island and petitioned the Bahamaian government to rename the island to Paradise Island.
Cafe Martinique was established by Hartford on Paradise Lake – an artificially created lagoon. The restaurant offered nightclub entertainment and was designed and decorated to resemble old Parisian restaurants of the 1890s. It offered both indoor and outdoor settings for luxury French cuisine.
Prior to the construction of the bridge connecting Nassau to Paradise Island, a ferryboat service would operate between the Mermaid Tavern docks on East Bay Street and the west docks of the canal that lead to Paradise Lake. During the evening hours, the ferries would extend their services to travel down the torch-lit canal to Paradise Lake, and to the cafe.
The Cafe was featured in James Bond: Thunderball (1965).
Postcards
1964 – Dexter Press Inc (DT-88900-B Series – Type A)
References
- MotorBoating Apr 1968
- Popular Photography 1962-06: Vol 50 Iss 6