NY's oldest barman reminisces
2006-08-22 22:01
New York - Marilyn Monroe came on Wednesdays for lunch and ordered a Beefeater martini, very dry. Danny Kaye pulled his jacket over his head to avoid being recognised. Judy Garland sat in a corner drinking Johnnie Walker Red.
"Judy Garland, very sad," said Hoy Wong. "She always had a cocktail glass in her hand."
Wong, or Mr Hoy, as he is known, has been working as a bartender for 58 years.
He got a job in a bar in 1948 at a now-defunct Chinese restaurant called Freeman Chum. It was there that he encountered Monroe, Garland and other notables including Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin and Bob Hope.
"They were all nice people," he said.
'He never misses a day'
There were more famous faces at the Algonquin Hotel, where Wong has worked since 1979. Once, he recalled, a woman sitting at the bar next to Anthony Quinn got so nervous she shook.
Wong is about to be feted by the Algonquin Hotel, on the occasion of his 90th birthday. Unless another candidate steps forward, his bosses seem safe in calling him the city's oldest bartender.
"He never misses a day," said Bill Liles, the Algonquin's general manager. "If the weather's bad he shows up early. It's just really an honour to work with someone like Mr Hoy."
Birthday party
Wong's birthday is on Wednesday but the Algonquin is getting a jump on the festivities by holding a party for some 350 of his friends and admirers on Tuesday in the hotel's Oak Room.
"I didn't expect it," Wong said during an interview on Monday at the hotel, surrounded by Al Hirschfeld drawings of some of the same celebrities he used to mix drinks for.
Wong is slight of build and looks much younger than 90. His eyes twinkled as he reminisced about a life that took him from his birthplace of Hong Kong to San Francisco in 1940 and New York in 1942.
Proudest moment
"I feel very lucky," Wong said. "I met a lot of nice people, even in the service. All of my commanding officers, they were very nice to me."
His proudest moment came in 1961 when he mixed a drink for the Duke of Windsor. "He said he wanted a House of Lords martini in and out on toast."
The wait captain was prepared to send Wong into the kitchen for a piece of toast, but Wong knew the duke wanted a martini with a lemon twist ignited with a match.
"After he drink, he liked it," he said. "And he had a second one."
- AP