Alex Dimitropoulos has tended bar here, serving celebs and civilians, since 1976. (Anne Wermiel)
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In Ian Fleming’s 1963 short story “007 in New York,” James Bond travels to Gotham on a mission and describes his favoritemeal in the city at the Grand Central Oyster Bar: “oyster stewwith cream, crackers, and Miller High Life.” (Yeah, his choice of beverage threw us, too.)
Bond isn’t alone in his love for the subterranean dining hall. The restaurant has been packing them in since 1913, serving steaming bowls of chowder, fish prepared every way and, of course, dozens of varieties of shellfish freshly shucked to order.
Bartender Alex Dimitropoulos has been there for more than a third of the Oyster Bar’s extensive history. The Greece-born former soldier started in 1976, and has seen the restaurant through ups, downs, fires and renovations.
Dimitropoulos, 66, has also met his share of famous faces who have walked through the door, such as “Saturday Night Live” cast member Chris Farley, who celebrated his birthday there in the early 1990s.
“He took his pants off and was running around the restaurant,” recalls the bartender. “Chris was a good guy, but he was a wild guy.”
Dimitropoulos also chattedwith Chris Rock at Farley’s party.
“At the time, he was such an innocent little kid,” he says. “He kept asking, ‘What should I order?What should I have?’ I told him the fried clams appetizer.”
Another comedian who came in regularly was George Wendt— forever known as Norm on “Cheers” —and Dimitropoulos recalls the hefty actor ordering 96 oysters in one sitting.
Other stars, such as Tony Randall (who always a martini) and Lucille Ball hadmeals there, but nobody turned heads like Paul Newman.
“It was amazing to see the reaction when Paul came in, especially from the girls,” he says. “They all lined up to see his blue eyes.”
Still, it’s not only the A-list who occupy the arch-ceilinged dining rooms and the simple lunch counters. Since its earliest days, the restaurant has drawn a mix of working-class patrons, commuters on their way to catch trains, as well as VIPs, including Gilded Age financier “Diamond Jim” Brady, Jackie O and former president William Taft.
The ramp that leads down to the Oyster Bar was modeled on the sloping roads onwhich Roman chariots rode into Caesar’s army camps. Originally, the dining room was decorated with Persian carpets and potted palm trees. Those are gone, but the room’s most striking feature remains: the earth-toned ceiling tiles laid in a herringbone pattern that were created by Rafael Guastavino, a Spanish architect whose brickwork can also be found at Carnegie Hall and Grant’s Tomb.
By the mid-1970s, Grand Central had fallen into disrepair. The Oyster Bar was bankrupt, chained shut and in need of a makeover. The MTA handed over the reins to Jerome Brody, a city restaurateur who also operated the Rainbow Room, the Four Seasons, and less glamorously, the concessions at Newark Airport.
He cleaned and renovated the restaurant (adding distinctive white Eero Saarinen tulip tables, which are still there) and made it a dining destination once again.
In 1997, the Oyster Bar was badly damaged by a fire started by a faulty kitchen refrigerator. Brody had the landmark quickly rebuilt.
“It was amazing to see people’s reactions after the fire,” Dimitropoulos says. “I got cards from New Zealand and everywhere. This is a special place, because there are so manymemories from so many people. You always remember the first time you came here.”
Or the 1,000th.
One Metro- North rider has been showing up for dinner every night for 20 years and always orders the same thing: soup, six oysters and a vodka on the rocks.
“It’s kind of different, but it’s fine,” Dimitropoulos says. “I sometimes suggest that he order something else, but he says, ‘No, I’m used to it.’ As long as he’s happy.”
reed.tucker@nypost.com