James Bond legendarily likes martinis shaken, not stirred. Robert De Niro has much more detailed specifications as to how he prefers his tipple mixed.
Spies said more-than-explicit instructions were disseminated to staffers at a Tribeca Film Festival party just in case De Niro appeared.
At a bash celebrating the festival’s awards Thursday night at DL Rooftop on the Lower East Side, we hear that staff was given a full page that began: “Robert De Niro’s cocktail request.”
“Bob likes gin martinis,” the note further explained. “For those, we’ll need gin, cucumbers and stemmed martini glasses. The key is just to have chilled stemmed martini glasses.”
The instructions continue: “The bartender should muddle a cucumber in the shaker and then mix with ice and gin. He or she should then SHAKE like crazy, an extra 30-45 seconds past the way they teach you in bartending school, so that little frothy chips form.”
And, “No vermouth necessary.”
Moving right along, after those frothy chips have formed, bartenders were instructed, “Don’t fill the glass all the way, only 2/3s at most so he doesn’t spill or it doesn’t get warm in his hand.”
But not to be too dictatorial, “You can garnish with a cucumber slice as well.” Good to know!
In addition to the perfectly prepared gin-and- cucumber martini, the instructions noted that there should be, “also a bottle of Veuve Cliquot at hand.” (No word about the flute, or ice situation on the bubbly.)
After all that, De Niro didn’t attend the bash, but a source close to the actor said he was never officially scheduled to. Reps for De Niro and the DL had no comment.
Close attention reveals De Niro has changed his tastes. Page Six previously reported the “King of Comedy” star was seen in 2001 instructing waiters at Swifty’s and Lucky Strike Lanes how to make him a “halftini,” with vodka, dry vermouth and “five lemon twists.” That equally complicated concoction had to be shaken just as wildly then, “strained twice.”