Classic East Village eatery Il Posto Accanto becomes the star of its own movie | amNewYork

"It was one of the crazier Sundays that I remember, and I've been going there since 1995, Rosenfeld recalled. It was a drunken, wild night, and I woke up the next day thinking that I should be making a movie at the restaurant instead of the other one. In about a week, I had some 60-odd scenes written on index cards on the wall."

"His first call was to his producers, who agreed that he had the makings of a movie. The next was to his old friend actor/writer Danny Hoch, who quickly agreed to collaborate. Next up was actor Victor Rasuk, another friend, and then to Pena, who had to be convinced not only to let them shoot in the restaurant, but to be in it as well, with Valminuta as a co-star."

Sunday at Il Posto Accanto originated at Il Posto, a beloved East Village restaurant at 190 East 2nd St. Director Seth Svi Rosenfeld, raised in the neighborhood, conceived the film after another project collapsed during a chaotic Sunday at the restaurant. Rosenfeld drafted roughly 60 scenes on index cards within a week and secured producer support. Actor/writer Danny Hoch and actor Victor Rasuk joined the project. Co-owner Julio Pena and his wife Beatrice Tosti di Valminuta allowed filming in the restaurant and agreed to co-star. The film is set in the post-COVID lockdown era when Il Posto served as a community hub; Pena had little prior acting experience.

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