Murray Hill Restaurant Set to Make Cinematic Debut
What would Katz’s Deli be without When Harry Met Sally? Tom’s Restaurant without Seinfeld? Trio, without, well, Trio? If the last reference eludes you, that’s because the shoot for director Danny Aiello III’s short film is just now wrapping up at the Croatian-owned Italian eatery in Murray Hill. “The movie is named for the bar, as well as for the trio of characters in the bar,” producer-star Jennifer Bogush tells us. “It’s about a young woman who is haunted by the memory of her ex-boyfriend and can’t move on with her life, but it’s actually much better than that sounds.” Bogush, who knows the owner, wrote the script herself after tiring of auditioning for unappealing projects — which might be why she plays the lead. Aiello — whose father starred as a Tribeca restaurant owner in the movie Dinner Rush — came on board, and they hired David Fumero (One Life to Live) and Amy Carlson (Third Watch, Law & Order: Trial by Jury) as cast members. Bogush, who plans to take the film to festivals like Telluride and Cannes, hopes “the short version will be a vehicle for the feature length for us … I am in the midst of writing that.” Say you saw it first by (quietly) stopping by the shoot this weekend — though we’re sorry to report there’s no orgasm scene. — Lori Fradkin
The Launch
Sam Mason: “It’s Like the Special Olympics”Sam Mason, the former star pastry chef at wd-50, will be launching his own restaurant and lounge, Tailor, at the beginning of March. In the weeks leading up to then, he’ll take us behind the scenes of a hot restaurant opening.