Bartender Please !

Joe Gilmore
(1922-2015)

 

 Joe Gilmore at the Savoy in 1970, where he created the Moonwalk cocktail Alamy.

The American Bar at the Savoy was the home of the cocktail in England for decades, and has boasted a succession of legendary Head Barmen. The third (there have been only 10) was Harry  Craddock. Born in England in 1875, as a young man he left for America and worked at the Knickerbocker Hotel in New York. At the beginning of Prohibition in 1920, he returned to England and helped make the Savoy the centre of London’s social scene. He drew large, appreciative crowds and became so famous himself that a figure of him was modelled for Madame Tussaud’s. In 1930 he published the first edition of his masterwork The Savoy Cocktail Book.

 

Last year saw the death of one of Craddock’s successors – Joe Gilmore. Widely loved and much admired as a skilled mixologist and good listener (a pre-requisite for a good barman); Gilmore created cocktails for the great and the good; from film stars to American presidents. Whenever Sinatra visited London he would always make time to visit the Savoy and greet Gilmore with the shout “set ‘em Joe”. On receipt of a perfectly mixed Dry Martini he would then settle himself near the piano for a rendition of One For My Baby.


The American bar at the Savoy today.

Savoy Hotel Special

2 measures Gin
1 measure Dry Vermouth
1 dash Absinthe
2 dashes Grenadine

Shake ingredients well with cracked ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Squeeze lemon peel on top before presenting.