|
|
NEW YORK - Retirement is the last thing on Hoy Wong's mind. The New York bartender, who turned 90, plans to carry on mixing martinis just as he has done for the past six decades.
Believed to be the city's oldest working barman, Hong Kong-born Wong shows few signs of wear and tear, despite his four score years and 10, and talks energetically in punchy phrases with a marked accent.
He still pours with a steady hand, just as he did for Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland and the Duke of Windsor.
Wong fled Hong Kong in 1940, the year before it fell to Japanese forces, and moved to San Francisco where he joined the US Air Force and learnt English. Demobilized in 1946 after serving in India and China, he moved to New York and started serving cocktails two years later.
It was while working in Freeman Chum, considered one of the city's first chichi Chinese restaurants, that he served most of his celebrity clients.
Marilyn Monroe, he remembers, would come to the restaurant for a liquid lunch. Hoy Wong said she would have a Beefeater Martini, and was very nice.
Judy Garland, he recalls, was also fond of a tipple.
John Lennon and Henry Kissinger would both come to the Algonquin Hotel, his employer for the past 27 years, and shared a taste for Scotch, he adds.
The Algonquin, which fittingly claims the distinction of being New York's oldest working hotel, threw a party for Wong on Tuesday night, inviting 300 of his friends and clientele.
Wong still works five days a week, spending his entire eight-hour shift on his feet. The 90 year old is far from slowing down and has no thoughts of putting down his cocktail shaker for good.
He said he loved his job, and had no plan to retire.
纽约退休是黄海（音译）脑子里装的最后一件事。纽约这位年界九旬的酒保计划把调酒事业进行到底，正如他前60年中所做的那样。
据信是纽约最老的仍在工作的酒吧招待，出生在香港的黄海尽管已经90岁了，但几乎看不出芊华岁月留下的痕迹，依旧精力充沛，铿锵有力地用带有明显口音的英语谈笑着。
他的手在倒酒时依然很稳，就象从前他为玛丽莲梦露，茱蒂佳兰和温莎公爵服务时那样。
在香港被日军占领前一年，即1940年，黄海逃离港岛，移居旧金山。在那里他加入美国空军，并学会说英语。他在印度和中国服役，后于1946年退伍，搬到纽约并在两年后开始了他调酒师的职业生涯。
正是在据说是当地最早一家时髦的中餐馆“Freeman Chum”工作的时候，他为很多名人顾客服务过。
他记得玛莉莲梦露喜欢中午来餐馆喝上一杯。 黄海说梦露爱点“Beefeater”马提尼酒，而且人很好。
据他回忆，茱蒂嘉兰也很喜欢烈性酒。
约翰列侬和亨利.基辛格都喜欢来黄海过去27年一直工作的“Algonquin”酒店，俩人都好苏格兰酒，黄海补充道。
正好借机宣扬自己是纽约最老的仍在运营的酒店的声望，Algonquin酒店周二晚为黄海举行了生日派对，邀请了他的300位友人和客户。
黄海仍坚持每周工作五天，在当班的八小时中从头站到尾。这位90岁的长者一点没有慢下来的迹象，从未想过永远地放下调酒器。
他说他热爱自己的工作，没有退休的计划。
1. bartender = barman酒吧男招待
2. martinis 马提尼酒
3. decade 十年
4.wear and tear 磨损，折旧
5. four score years and 10 九十岁 （score，二十）
6. punchy 强力的
7 chichi 故作时髦的
8. celebrity 名人
9. tipple 烈酒
10. distinction 声望，显赫
11. cocktail shaker 调酒器
12. for good 永久地，一劳永逸地
|
|
发表于 2016-8-12 16:25:42