I don’t quite know where to start.
Brami came to me with this project back in June. The ask was simple and huge at the same time: “We want to build a show around you and how you see New York City, and we want you to build it.”
My answer was always going to be yes. But when someone hands you a project with no limits on your imagination, of course you ask: what’s the catch?
There wasn’t one. Just four episodes. So many pieces of me, a ton of New York, and a sprinkle of Italian heritage and nostalgia for the Italian New York that’s still here, if you know where to look.
Building a Show and a Team: No Such Thing as Perfect
I had no idea how to begin. My goal was to make it as perfect as possible, and somewhere along the way I realized there’s no such thing as perfect. I’d learn that lesson a few more times before this was over.
We landed on an angle. Each episode has its own theme, one New York City gem (a place, a person, or both), and one OG Italian spot that’s still standing. Some episodes have two stops. Two have a lot more because, as you can imagine, picking just two was impossible.
The theme took time. I never realized how hard it is to make something feel simple and clean, with an arc and a big picture. I could go on, but the truth is this was a team effort, and without the team, this show wouldn’t be what it is.
Before I get into filming, I need a moment for Brami.
Brands don’t usually do this. They don’t hand someone a show, a budget, a crew, and total creative freedom and say, go make something you love. Brami did. They trusted me with their name, their money, and their story, and never once asked me to be anything other than myself.
When filming wrapped, I asked Danny, Brami’s creative director, why me. There are so many amazing food people out there. Why me?
His answer was perfect. He doesn’t even remember how he stumbled on me, and he doesn’t care. He just had a gut feeling. That I’d be a great creative partner. That I’d throw myself into all of it. That I’d care as much as I did.
He was right. But only because Brami made it so easy to care. Aaron, Danny, and the whole team showed up for this show like it was their own baby, because it was. Every call, every note, every late night, they were right there with me.
Thank you, Brami. For the trust, for the freedom, and for believing a show about slowing down and gathering was worth making. I’ll never forget it.
Danny was my creative partner through this entire journey. We went from complete strangers to family in a few meetings. Brainstorms. Frantic “this is it” calls. Early morning notes. Late night notes. He had a vision for Brami’s show and trusted me to help bring it to life. I’m forever grateful.
And the team was so much more than Danny. Bon, the show’s creative director, had the vision behind the scenes and named the show. Christian, our producer, kept us honest and on time. Sydney, our associate producer, had eyes and ears in every room and on every person. She always knew what was happening and what we needed, and she had a heavy hand in the creative. And our film and sound crew GOT THE SHOTS.
We’re a family now.
Six and a Half Days (and Two Hours of Sleep)
We filmed the entire show in six and a half days. Wild, right? Full days. 6 AM call times. Hair and makeup knocking on my door at 5:45.
I was so excited that I think I shocked my body. For weeks I told myself I needed to be the most perfect version of me. I said it so many times I started to believe it. The problem is, I don’t even know what that looks like. So my nerves kicked in. Gear up. Do more. Do this, do that. It quietly cranked up my anxiety without me realizing, and the first place it showed up was my sleep. You want to walk into a project like this rested, no bags under your eyes. I did the exact opposite.
The night before our first shoot day, a B-roll day, I got about two and a half hours of sleep. I woke up at 2 and never went back down. Not great, but I knew I didn’t have to be super on, so I powered through. The second I got on set, the adrenaline hit, and I was so happy doing what I was doing that I forgot how tired I was. I came home at 7 knowing I needed real sleep for my first real day. I was in bed by 8.
Then the hours went by. Waves. Rain sounds. Sleep meditations. Nothing. When the clock hit midnight, I started to panic, and then my heart started racing. That’s when I called my husband, Garry, who was out, and asked him what a heart attack feels like. Not that he would know.
Garry rushed home and told me I wasn’t having a heart attack, but there was a good chance I was having an anxiety attack. That’s exactly what it was, and it was awful. I finally fell asleep around 2. My alarm went off at 5:30.
We had a huge day of filming ahead, and I knew in my heart something wasn’t right. From 8 AM to 9:30 PM, I was shooting, then stepping away to call my doctor and my therapist, who both confirmed it. Yes, an anxiety attack. And congratulations, I’d made it all the way to 32 without ever having one.
My team waited every single time I stepped away. No sighs, no rushing me. That’s when I knew this team was next level.
I was prescribed something to take if my heart ever raced like that again. Since that night in August, it hasn’t. And I’ve watched so many videos on calming my nervous system that if it ever does, I think I’ll know how to bring myself down a tad.
I’m sharing this because I think we only ever see the highlight reel. The truth is, the thing I wanted most in the world nearly knocked me flat on day one. Both things can be true.
Seventeen Locations, Zero Scripts
Four episodes. Seventeen locations across Brooklyn and Manhattan. Every single one is its own world.
Albanese, a butcher shop that’s been open for over 100 years. Regalis, with a freezer set to 39 below zero. L&B Spumoni Gardens, the greatest pizza in New York, with a sauce that literally has a lawsuit attached. Di Palo’s, the old school Italian food shop. Le Chêne, where my friend Alexia cooks. Albanese Meats & Poultry. Aqua Best. Bar Contra. Regina’s. Regalis. Frankel’s in Greenpoint.
The Union Square Greenmarket. Frank’s House, my own event space, for family meal. And a few more spots in between.
We rode a roller coaster at Coney Island. We made pasta. We ate lamb. We all got New York City tattoos from Big Steve at Fun City.
Was it out of my comfort zone? Honestly, I don’t know. I’d never done anything like it. There were plenty of moments when the nerves set in, and even more when the excitement took over.
And here’s the thing. The show is unscripted. I held the themes and the facts in my head and that was it. Unscripted means anything can go wrong, or go quiet, and that’s the beauty (and the stress) of it.
Which is exactly why the guests are the stars. Yes, this is my lens on New York City. But every episode belongs to them.
Dressing the Part
I was my own stylist because a) why the heck not, and b) it’s basically a dream job on top of the current dream job. My looks were very me: very New York and very comfortable. I planned them in InDesign like I always do, which is a ridiculous program to plan outfits in, but that’s the art school kid in me.
Here was the plan, plus a few photos from the shoot days. I’ll link everything in my ShopMy :)
Premiere Night
The premiere was this past Tuesday, October 27, at the IFC Center in the West Village. We aired two of the four episodes to a packed house. Every seat was taken. People sat on the floor to watch, including Danny and me.
Before it started, I got up to speak with Aaron, Brami’s founder. His passion for the brand and what it stands for, my passion for the show and the product, our words just fit together. It felt like harmony. Then I looked out and saw familiar faces everywhere. Friends. Family. My parents. My husband. My whole heart in one room.
The lights went down, the first episode started, and I swear nothing felt real. Then it happened. The first real laugh. The whole room, all at once. My heart was bursting. We made something good. Something that makes people feel.
More laughs came. Whistles. Screams. Sighs. Real emotions, out loud, in the dark. And then the clapping.
After the theater, we carried the night to Le Chêne, one of the two locations in episode 1, where we highlight Alexia Duchêne. The plan sort of made itself, and I’m so happy it did.
The room was packed. An ice luge with pasta water martinis pouring down it. Big Steve from Fun City tattooing anyone who wanted one. By the end of the night, 37 out of 80 guests had new ink. Negronis. Lamb sammies. Pure joy.
This was the party of my dreams. I would have been just as happy as a guest, but hosting it felt like the biggest honor of my life.
Shoulders Down
I think this is the first time in months I’ve let my shoulders drop.
The show isn’t done. Episode 3 is almost there, and Episode 4 has two more rounds of edits. There are still calls to make, notes to give, and cuts to watch for the hundredth time. But somewhere between the last tattoo at Fun City and the laughs at IFC, my body decided it could finally exhale.
This was a labor of love in every sense. Around the clock. Redoing things we thought were done. Edits on edits. Calls that ran way too late. Days I hated it and days I was so in love with it I couldn’t sleep, which, as you now know, is kind of my thing. It took a lot out of me. More than I expected. And I would do it all again tomorrow with a giant smile on my face.
Back in June, I wanted this to be perfect. It wasn’t. I barely slept; I had my first anxiety attack on day two; things went quiet on camera; and plans changed every single day. And it’s the best thing I’ve ever been a part of.
A lot of that is because of the people. Some of us, me included, had never made a show like this before. We learned on the spot, every single day, and figured it out together. Nobody pretended to have all the answers. Everybody just showed up. I don’t think I’ll ever stop being amazed by that. So this isn’t the end, yet…. It’s just the moment I get to breathe, look around, and say thank you. Thank you, Brami. Thank you, team. Thank you to every guest who let us into their world, and to everyone who packed that theater and laughed in the dark with us.
Episode 1 of Salt the Water is live on YouTube now. WATCH IT HERE, then call someone and make them dinner 🍅
Episode 2 drops on Nov 11. STAY TUNED FOR ALL EPISODES HERE.
Feeling so grateful. And so full!!!!!!
xX,
Gina
Congratulations, Gina! Unscripted, 17 locations and a packed theater is a real feat, and the styling held its own through all of it. So happy to be in the lineup!
best team. best post. best person.