Whisky Joe

Wonderland, Issue 12

“I used to say that the Savoy was like the Windmill Theatre,” says Joe Gilmore. “We were never closed!” The Savoy, which has now temporarily shut its doors for a total refurbishment, was second home to Joe Gilmore, now 86, who was their head barman for a record 22 years – that’s a lot of boozy talk into the wee small hours that he has listened to.
The smart, softly spoken Gilmore came to London in 1938. He is one of 10 children, from, ironically, a teetotal Irish family brought up in Belfast. “My father owned shops hoping his sons would run them but we had different ideas,” he says. “And at 16 years old I caught the boat to England.”

Gilmore initially found work at Sanderson’s wallpaper factory on London’s Oxford Street; however the tales he heard about restaurant work soon changed his career. “My friend used to tell me what he’d had for breakfast, lunch and tea at work and I used to think, I’m hungry – I have to get into this business!” But then war broke out and business was suddenly unhealthy. The Theatre Royal closed and chefs and waiters were sent to fight – but they were in need of staff at the renowned Savoy and so in 1940, with some basic bar skills under his belt, the 18-year-old Joe became the Savoy’s new trainee barman.

The night that he invented one of his first cocktails was a momentous one. He had been transferred from the Savoy to the Perroquet bar in the old Berkeley Hotel. “It was the night that the Café des Paris was bombed and customers came in, in a shocking state,” he recalls. Tragically, 84 people were killed and many of the dusty, distressed survivors walked, of all the bars in all the world, into his place. “They said, ‘Joe, give us something with a sting in it will you?”, he recalls, “so there and then I invented the Berkeley stinger. That was one night I shall never forget.”

The war completely altered city life and places such as the Berkeley and the Savoy offered a sense of safety and community to its customers. In 1945 Gilmore returned to the Savoy and 10 years later became their head barman, following in the footsteps of the legendary Harry Craddick. There were many top political figures that frequented the Savoy, from General de Gaulle (whom Gilmore served on Bastille Day) to Eisenhower and Churchill. “I was taken out to lunch one day,” he says, “and Winston Churchill happened to be in the restaurant. He said, ‘Joe, what are you doing here, why aren’t you at the Savoy?”

At the hotel, Churchill had his own entrance – and his own, separate bottle of whisky too. “In those days, due to the war, whisky couldn’t be made so we only had three stock whiskys,” says Gilmore. “Churchill came in with a good bottle of Black and White whisky and said, ‘Joe that’s for me’. So I kept it to one side and I served it to him whenever he came in.”

It wasn’t just political figures that came to the Savoy. Gilmore served a host of writers, comedians and Hollywood stars and soon learnt their favourite tipple. “Joan Crawford liked a whisky sour and George Bernard Shaw, he was such a character but he never drank any alcohol,” he says. “Ernest Hemmingway was also a customer, as were Laurel and Hardy, who owned a copy of the celebrated Savoy cocktail book which they would bring to the bar with them, often selecting a white Lady or a Side Car to drink. Charlie Chaplin would come to the Savoy with his wife – as women weren’t allowed in the American bar in its early days he would leave her at the door whilst he supped a martini or two. In time women were admitted entrance, just so long as they weren’t wearing trousers. “There was a lady wearing trousers that went outside, took them off, buttoned up her cardigan and came back in,” Gilmore remembers with a broad smile.
In his role as head barman Gilmore also created cocktails to mark many historic events. The Moon Walk cocktail was one of these, invented to celebrate the first moon landing. “The cocktail was a mix of grapefruit juice, Grand Marnier, champagne and rose water,” he explains. “The Savy sent it off in a flask and I received a letter back from Neil Armstrong thanking us and saying it was the first drink they had when they came out of quarantine.” Gilmore also shook up some new tipples to mark significant events in the Royal family, including one for Prince Charles’ 21st birthday, “which he told me he liked very much and re-created at home”, and the Savoy Royal, dedicated to the Queen mother, “although she actually liked to drink gin martinis,” he reveals.

“I never missed the Savoy after leaving as all my customers kept in touch,” Gilmore says, “and I always returned at least once a month for a drink myself.” It is now the children or grandchildren of his original customers who call on his cocktail expertise. “It is important to use the finest ingredients,” he advises, still passionate about his craft – and, still going strong he is an ambassador for Smirnoff. “Fine ingredients makes all the difference.” Mr. Joe Gilmore – we raise a glass to you.