Memories of James Bond at Casco Celebration

 By David Young

Loyal customers by the score packed into Café Per Due (Coffee for Two) in Casco Viejo on Sunday February 24 to celebrate the fifth anniversary of its opening.

The tiny restaurant which produces arguably the best thin pizza in Panama City, lavishly packed with your favorite ingredients and a sprinkling of feta cheese on request, has become a regular meeting place for local residents to enjoy the pizza and other Italian goodies, and drinks at the best prices in the old city. Under the direction of Italian owner Manuela Rosetti, the establishment has survived while many others have come and gone. One expat resident at the party, calculated the deaths of restaurant dreams in the hundreds,  even before the debilitating effects of the road and utilities rehabilitation which has caused at least four business casualties in the last 18 months, and left others almost literally gasping for air as giant hoardings have hidden their frontages. Manuela’s regulars were still able to find their way down narrow boarded in alleys, but for many tourists it was a hidden experience.

The streets close to Per Due are now refurbished, and with tourists braving the challenges of diversions and unfinished roads over much of Casco, it continues to be a must-visit place

"Location, location, location" is the mantra of marketers and advisors to businesses, including restaurants. To that you could add “timing”.

Manuela’s restaurant is close to the shell of the former Union Club which in its later years became a hangout for officers serving in the military under Noriega.That led to its shellacking during the 1989 US invasion.
But the producers of the James Bond thriller Quantum of Solace, saw the wrecked club as an ideal site for shooting some scenes for a movie with a Latin American background, and its inside was draped and furnished and converted into an elegant night club setting.
For Café Per Due it was a magical touch of good fortune. The chance of seeing Bond, (aka Daniel Craig) strolling the streets of Casco drew thousands of the citizenry from the glass and concrete towers across the Bay. Add to that, scores of extras and film technicians working on the film, for whom Café Per Due became a staff canteen.
Location and timing launched the business. Good service, good food, good prices and customer loyalty have kept it going.
Happy Birthday.!!