]
Beefeater Gibsons at the Pierre Hotel
FROM THE NY TIMES HERE
"Mr. Dacchille (pronounced duh-KILL-ee), 69, has been a bartender for 48 years, 31 of them at the Pierre. He said on Friday that “a lot of the young bartenders think it’s a gimlet and put Rose’s lime juice in it.” He snorts.
A Gibson is a martini, he said, garnished with pearl onions and made with a “dash” of Boissiere or other dry vermouth, but is mostly robust amounts of Bombay Sapphire or other gin. Shaken or stirred? Stirred, Mr. Dacchille replied. “That shaking thing came on with James Bond.”
Such big-city savoir-faire will be lost, at least temporarily, at high noon on Monday.
Most of the Pierre will close down then for at least a year, and a large portion of its staff — including Mr. Dacchille, whose last day was Friday — will not return.
The closing is part of a $100 million renovation of the Pierre, which the New Yorker magazine once described as a “millionaires’ Elysium.”
Fast Forward to 2009!
THE PIERRE HOTEL IS BACK, COMPLETE WITH: 100 MILLION DOLLAR RENOVATIONS, VIOLINISTS, AND EVEN SOME BEEFEATER GIBSONS
FROM THE NY TIMES HERE
"Nine violinists lined the staircase leading up to The Pierre’s opening party last night, a burst of strings welcoming guests to the historic Fifth Avenue hotel after a $100 million renovation.
Tina Brown was among the first to arrive, making a brief appearance at the top of the cocktail hour, creating a buzz among the hotel’s publicists about a possible new travel component to her Web site, The Daily Beast.
As she paused at the top of the staircase, guests filed past a series of black and white photos capturing the hotel’s grand days. Audrey Hepburn smiled in a 1954 photo after receiving an academy award at a special ceremony at The Pierre for her performance in the film, “Roman Holiday.” Intermixed among the glamour shots were posed marketing photos of contemporary models with drinks in hand.
By 7:15 p.m. Tina Brown was gone, but minutes later Michael Douglas arrived in a gray suit and maroon tie. He lingered, posing for photos with American Ballet Theater principal dancers, Maxim Belotserkovsky and Irina Dvorovenko. He also posed with Raymond Bickson, the chief executive of Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, the Pierre’s parent company based in India."
The Famous Pierre Hotel Heist of the 70s.
