The trailer for One Night Only shows a bartender sliding two shots across a bar to Monica Barbaro’s and King Princess’ characters. That bartender wears an apron from Dante, the New York aperitivo spot known for its Garibaldi and a Punch-favorite Negroni. It is not the first time the bar has appeared on screen.
Co-owner Linden Pride told Pre Shift that all three Dante locations — Caffe Dante, Dante West Village, and Dante Aperitivo — have served as film sets. “We’ve used each of our restaurants in New York—Caffe Dante, Dante West Village, and Dante Aperitivo—as film sets,” he said, “and all of our experiences have been so different.”
Pride spoke about the logistics, the costs, and the occasional landlord drama that comes with letting a production crew take over a working restaurant.
Location Scouts Found Dante
Film productions did not seek out Dante because of a marketing push from Pride. It was all about the buildings.
“It’s all location scouts,” Pride said. “We’re blessed because we have a historical space with Caffe Dante [which is a registered New York landmark], and Dante West Village and Dante Aperitivo are on really beautiful corners.”
The spaces read as classic New York on camera. That is what drew the hospitality group to the sites in the first place. “They almost feel like a storybook already,” he said.
The crew handles the heavy lifting when it comes to permits. They close off streets, park their trucks, and cordon off areas. Pride does not manage any of that.
But a shoot can still hit a wall before a single camera rolls. The problem is often the lease.
The Landlord Who Tried To Shut It Down
Pride learned that lesson the hard way during a shoot for And Just Like That… at Dante West Village.
“In our lease with our first landlord, it said that we couldn’t do photoshoots or film shoots,” he said. “When I was negotiating the lease, I didn’t pay much attention to it, because I was like, ‘Well, we’re a restaurant, why would I care about that?'”
Then the crew showed up. Pride had negotiated the deal with the production company, but the landlord called as soon as the equipment arrived.
“I was on the phone with the landlord, and my wife was like, ‘We’re not shutting it down! I’m sitting next to Sarah Jessica Parker!'” Pride said.
The scene being shot involved Carrie breaking up with her longtime partner. The landlord objected because a vendor was working inside the restaurant. Pride pushed back, noting the crew was filming on the sidewalk.
“It was kind of a grey area, so they permitted it, and it passed,” he said. “But if they were filming inside of the restaurant, I would’ve had to shut it down.”
Pride understands the landlord’s position. “You’re basically selling their space for not the purposes they want to sell it for,” he said. “They want it to be a restaurant, and as soon as you get into IP and how this is going to be sold and marketed, they want to be much more involved in those conversations, which is fair enough.”
Now, in every new lease, Pride negotiates a carve-out that lets him host video shoots. “I negotiate that part now in the beginning,” he said.
A Three-Way Negotiation
For One Night Only, Pride brought the landlord into the conversation from the start. It became a three-way deal between Pride, the production company, and the building owner.
“They had other requests, such as notifying all the tenants in the building and making sure that access in and out of the apartments weren’t blocked,” he said.
That approach differed from the earlier shoot, where the landlord called mid-filming to object. The And Just Like That… shoot had its own quirks. Pride noted that the waiters were dressed “in these weird, quirky outfits, like white shirts and black ties, and it looked like the 1990s.”
The One Night Only shoot was different. The production volunteered to dress its bartender in a Dante apron and keep the restaurant’s signage in frame.
Branding Came Free
Pride did not ask for the Dante branding in the movie. The production company offered it.
“No, they volunteered that, which I love,” he said.
The bartender in the film is not Dante staff. “It’s funny to see that guy, who I’ve never seen before in my life, standing behind the bar in a Dante uniform,” Pride said. Still, he is grateful for the placement.
“So many people have reached out to us and said, ‘We saw Dante in One Night Only,’ and that’s been amazing,” he said.
The contrast with the And Just Like That… shoot is stark. That production dressed its staff in generic outfits that looked dated. This time, the brand is front and center.
Long Days On Set
A film crew does not stop by for an hour. They take over for a full day, sometimes longer.
“It’s always at least one day, and we’ve done up to three days,” Pride said.
The schedule is punishing. “They usually come in at 5 a.m. and they bump out by midnight,” he said. “They’re really in it all day.”
The size of the operation can be surprising. “Because the restaurants aren’t that big, and they have these big production companies and so many staff, they end up sometimes taking up the whole street,” he said.
For a small restaurant, that means a full closure. No walk-ins, no regulars, no service.
Pricing A Shoot
Pride prices the shoot based on what the restaurant would have made that day.
“I always price it at what the daily revenue would be to close the restaurant for a day,” he said. “If we’re going to close, there shouldn’t be any opportunity costs that we lose out on.”
But the economics work in his favor in one key way. “Where the win is, is you don’t have the same costs [ingredients, staffing] associated with [a day of service],” he said.
The production covers most of the expenses. Pride has tried to supply meals for crews in the past, but that did not last.
“That’s really challenging because you can’t make much noise, you can’t really cook in the kitchen, and productions need to have a rolling menu available,” he said. “After one experience of that, I didn’t really do it again.”
Managing The Sidewalk
His main cost is having two staff members on site all day. Their job is not to serve drinks. It is to talk to the neighbors.
A New York restaurant spills out onto the street. That is part of the business.
“You inhabit these private spaces, but inevitably, your business—and everyone’s business—spills out onto the sidewalk,” Pride said.
When a production crew blocks the street, neighbors have questions. Pride’s staff are there to answer them and manage expectations.
The Payoff
The One Night Only trailer has already done its job. People recognized Dante immediately.
Pride has heard from customers who spotted the bar in the preview. The reaction has been positive.
The shoots are not without friction. Landlords can object. Neighbors need reassurance. The days are long.
But Pride keeps saying yes. The spaces are built for it.
“They almost feel like a storybook already,” he said.
Key Facts Box
- Shoot length: At least one day, up to three days
- Crew schedule: 5 a.m. to midnight
- Pricing: Based on the restaurant’s daily revenue for a full closure
- Staff on set: Two Dante employees, tasked with managing neighbors
- Dante locations used as film sets: Caffe Dante, Dante West Village, Dante Aperitivo
- Films and shows named: One Night Only, And Just Like That…
The deal is simple: the crew pays for the lost day, handles the permits, and the restaurant gets its brand on screen.
The new leases have the carve-out. The neighbors have a point person.
And the bartender in the trailer? He might be a stranger to Pride, but he is wearing the right apron.
Source: punchdrink.com
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.