We had less than 24 hours to go to coordinate the final few details of our last shoot day for our corporate video project. Murphy (of Murphy's Law, you know) dropped by early and changed the time of a scene that we needed for the closing sequence of the video. Instead of a "dinner with friends", it became a "lunch with friends" scene because the venue's management didn't want our production crew intruding during their "busy" dinner hours (between you and me, self-important overpriced establishments that don't have a "wow" factor will eventually die out. It's called "karma"). I racked my brain for a place in the BGC area, where we were scheduled the following night to shoot 3 other scenes. It had to be a somewhat casual place with good food, nice interiors, good lighting, plus it shouldn't be super packed early in the evening. Suddenly, Nolita came to mind. They were still on "soft opening" mode after all, so maybe there's a chance we could shoot the "dinner with friends" scene there.
After ringing Nolita's phone number, I was surprised to hear a guy's voice on the other end. I had expected one of the female cashiers to answer the call. I explained quickly that I needed to ask about using Nolita as a location for a shoot the next evening and if I could speak with the manager. The guy said he's the person to talk to about it. I asked, "May I know your name?" and he replied, "Patrick". Ding! Flashback from an article I read recently about Nolita: one of the co-owners is named Patrick. "Are you the co-owner of Nolita?", I asked and he answered, "Yes." OMG. So I continued explaining what we needed to do, that it was going to take just a few minutes and that we'll be as non-intrusive as we can. Without any additional comment or question, Patrick said "Sure!" That took all of 3 minutes. THREE MINUTES.
The next day, Patrick texted to say that he had already left word with the cashier about our shoot. We got to Nolita past 8PM after shooting some scenes in Burgos Circle. The staff exhibited 3 Cs that equate to a thousand points with the picky resto-chooser in me: coolness, calmness, and courteousness. Oh, I forgot another "C": cooperative. It was so easy dealing with them, which tells me that the staff has gotten a better hang of running a new place compared with a week ago. Plus, the food was -- as expected -- excellent. We ordered 5 pizza flavors (including this one on the left, now 1 of my faves), giant onion rings, fries (which is like Shakey's "mojos" but thinner and crisper), chicken wings, and mixed greens salad. Everything was just YUM!
We finished the shoot in Nolita within just 30 minutes. It was the very last scene of our entire production timetable. I found it so apt that we wrapped on a good note -- thanks to Nolita's management and crew. From having to bear with some uncooperative people during a couple of other shoot days, I could imagine how a simple "dinner with friends" scene could have taken longer to set up and shoot. In fact, this was a last-minute request, so the owner could have easily said "No" as the other establishment had, no matter how much and how long we pleaded.
It's no secret that the food in Nolita is a bit on the pricey end. But, like its sister resto Borough, the great service and memorable taste justify the costs. You can tell that by now, I've become a huge fan :-)
Nolita, thank you again so much for ALL your help! We'll see you again soon -- that's for sure! ;-)
After ringing Nolita's phone number, I was surprised to hear a guy's voice on the other end. I had expected one of the female cashiers to answer the call. I explained quickly that I needed to ask about using Nolita as a location for a shoot the next evening and if I could speak with the manager. The guy said he's the person to talk to about it. I asked, "May I know your name?" and he replied, "Patrick". Ding! Flashback from an article I read recently about Nolita: one of the co-owners is named Patrick. "Are you the co-owner of Nolita?", I asked and he answered, "Yes." OMG. So I continued explaining what we needed to do, that it was going to take just a few minutes and that we'll be as non-intrusive as we can. Without any additional comment or question, Patrick said "Sure!" That took all of 3 minutes. THREE MINUTES.
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| Pesto chicken with sundried tomatoes ♥ |
We finished the shoot in Nolita within just 30 minutes. It was the very last scene of our entire production timetable. I found it so apt that we wrapped on a good note -- thanks to Nolita's management and crew. From having to bear with some uncooperative people during a couple of other shoot days, I could imagine how a simple "dinner with friends" scene could have taken longer to set up and shoot. In fact, this was a last-minute request, so the owner could have easily said "No" as the other establishment had, no matter how much and how long we pleaded.
It's no secret that the food in Nolita is a bit on the pricey end. But, like its sister resto Borough, the great service and memorable taste justify the costs. You can tell that by now, I've become a huge fan :-)
Nolita, thank you again so much for ALL your help! We'll see you again soon -- that's for sure! ;-)
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