Eating, Drinking and Dealmaking in NYC: A Billions Guide
by Damianista | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | October 6, 2020
I have news!
So… I sat down and wrote a book 🙂 And, I mean, I knew it was happening but I felt that it was really happening when I saw the book on the publisher’s website with my name on it!
So I give you…
Appetite for Power, Eating, Drinking and Dealmaking in NYC: A Billions Guide
If everything goes according to the current production plan, Appetite for Power Eating, Drinking and Dealmaking in NYC: A Billions Guide will be out on November 3, 2020 – yes, on Election Day of all days! You can check the book out and pre-order a copy on the publisher’s website or on the usual suspects Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
And if you are interested in the extraordinary journey I have had, writing a book about my favorite TV show that is, here it is.
Fan Fun with Damian Lewis and Billions have had an interesting relationship from the get go. I launched the blog only two weeks before they started shooting the series pilot in New York City. Damian found out about the blog on Billions Pilot set. Believe it or not, he had my information in his jacket pocket as he filmed the famous “Fuck you money” scene in the Pilot.
source: Damianista
As a part-time New Yorker, I was extremely lucky to have access to Billions in several different ways. I caught Billions shoots all around the city from the Financial District to the Upper West Side to Middle Village, Queens and saw some of the most hilarious, most dramatic and the most emotional scenes of the show being filmed only a few feet away from my favorite actor. I attended Billions screenings, Q&As, and super fan parties. I had an opportunity to chat with the show creators as well as with the brilliant cast members. And the blog receiving shout outs from our readers, from Damian himself, from Koppelman and Levien and from other Billions actors has been the most delicious cherry on top. I am a very lucky girl and I cherish all of it.
As the famous song goes…
“The memory of all that
No, no they can’t take that away from me” 😀
One of the first things I noticed about Billions, even before the first season premiered on Showtime, was that New York would be a cast member in the show: The city, from its historical landmarks to its parks and to its world class restaurants, would not be just a backdrop for Billions to tell its story but it would be part of the story. And as someone who feels the only home she has in the world is the city that never sleeps, I loved it that Billions took over New York, the BIG film studio that it is, and shot all over the place, from Manhattan to Queens to Brooklyn to The Bronx to Long Island and to northern suburbs. And since my husband and I are crazy foodies – he loves to cook and we both love to eat – New York dining scene making memorable appearances on the show, from its Michelin-starred restaurants to yummy hole-in-the-walls to cozy neighborhood joints made us smile big!
Crif Dogs
So I paid close attention to the food in Billions even before it was cool to do that and put together Billions dining guides on the blog for every season. And, believe me, figuring out all the restaurants, coffee shops and bars featured on the show was not the easiest task since they, more often than not, do not show or mention the name of the place in the episode. It was naturally easy to locate a place if I have been there before… but if not… then being the forensic fan that I am, I googled whatever hint I could get from the scene, varying from the pictures or signs on the walls to the shape of the lamps in the dining room or the color of the chairs, and got results! Oh, and I sometimes used Google Maps and Google Earth, too, especially when I knew the general area they shot the scene. The Fan Fun Billions dining guides quickly became the most popular posts on the blog and got links from Food Network and Forbes Magazine. Yet, I never dreamed of turning these guides into a full blown book until…
Barney Greengrass – The Sturgeon King!
…I received an email from a young publisher at SkyHorse Publishing in October 2018.
It turned out that she enjoyed reading Fan Fun Billions dining guides and reached out to ask whether I would be interested in writing a book that would serve as a guide to the New York restaurants featured on Billions with a tie-in to the storyline. When she asked whether I would be willing to meet and talk about the possibility, I was intrigued enough to say yes.
Well, two years – many drafts, countless texts and emails, numerous lunches and dinners some of which took place at Billions restaurants, more than quite a few drinks, and a lot of brainstorming – later, here we are.
Una Pizza Napoletana
I did most of the work in the summer and fall of 2019 – watching and rewatching Billions, researching and writing the manuscript, revising and revising some more! The original plan was to have the book out in April 2020, a few weeks before Billions Season 5 premiered on Showtime. Alas, as we finalized the interior of the book and were getting ready to send to press, Covid-19 hit the U.S. disrupting it all for everyone. As Billions folks took a break from filming Season 5, the publisher decided it was not a good idea to publish a dining guide while all restaurants were closed down. Well…
Read the rest of the original article at Fan Fun with Damian Lewis here