I am trying to track down information on a restaurateur named “Pierre.” I don’t know his last name. He is mentioned prominently in a book I’ve just read, a memoir of José Sarria, but that devil José never mentions Pierre’s last name! What I know of him, assuming the little minx was telling the truth:
First name Pierre;
French;
Made a pot of money helping two women sell french onion soup and soufflé at a World’s Fair (don’t have the book in front of me, don’t remember which one);
Supposedly owned restaurants called “Lucky Pierre” or “Lucky Pierre’s” in New York City and Carmel. He was very successful in building them up and would sell them, then when the new owners failed (since Pierre was the restaurant), would repossess them, build them up and sell them again;
Had a pavilion at the 1964/5 New York World’s Fair, again selling French onion soup and other French food (may possibly have been the Pavilion of Paris);
Family owned a dress shop in Paris that made all of Edith Piaf’s dresses;
Hung like a race horse.
It’s not Pierre Franey because the time period is wrong. It’s not Canadian diplomat Pierre Dupuy. My Google-fu is weak on this one. Any idea on who this guy is and where I might find more biographical information?
Using the Historical NYT database, there was a restaurant in NYC in the 1950’s-60s. It was called Lucky Pierre, at 50 West 55th St. French cuisine. “Blow torch magic.” All I could find was ads.
But, admit it. It was how he was hung that got you, right?
It’s true, I’m a fool for a man who’s probably dead but had a huge penis.
I would like to get this article up to FA on Wikipedia but to do that I need a little more diversity of sources. One would think that if the stuff Sarria was saying was accurate there’d be a little bit more of a historical record.
Yeah, he maintained a presence at the World’s Fairs for a long time. This is awesome material. I’m kind of amazed that there isn’t more out there on the net about him.
Pierre was my dear friend. He died a year ago. He led an amazing life. Best friends with Princess Grace. Met his wife through Edith Piaf, another dear friend. Worked on the Calypso boat with Jacques Cousteau. Partner of John Wayne. Famous with his blow torch cooking. Perfected his French onion soup for Albert Einstein. Roommate with Errol Flynn. Affair with Marilyn Monroe. He was one of a kind….!!! His real name was Romeo Joseph Gendron. He has two videos on YouTube under Lucky Pierre done just before his death. His sons are prominent chefs around NYC. His daughter is an artist in NM.
But is this the same Pierre? I can’t decide. Nobody named Romeo Joseph Gendron seems to be associated with New York’s Lucky Pierre restaurant; the chef there was Jean Pierre Gendron (his son Daniel carries the blow torch).
But I fail to see where “Pierre Parker”, who did World’s Fair food in the 60s, is related.
Jose and Pierre Parker worked together from 1964 to 1982 running cafes at World’s Fairs in New York 1964-65, Montreal 1967, San Antonio 1968, Spokane 1974 and Knoxville 1982, but they remained lifelong friends
It seems to me Mr Gendron is not Pierre Parker.
Pierre Parker is meant to running a Laguna Beach stall called “Lucky Pierre’s”. This is just coincidence, there was a meme of calling any french man (or french chef ) lucky Pierre. eg the sexploitation film “the Adventures of Lucky Pierre”. Jose never mentions meeting all those famous people ; Mr Gendron is ONLY with famous people, he is a chef to the stars… not to the world fair.
“Lucky Pierre” was part of the name of a sexploitation film, and so it became a common term for someone french chef/restaurant… I found others named that, clearly not all to do with one man.
