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Photo by Phillip Caruso/Hulu
New on Hulu is High Fidelity, a serialized television remake of the John Cusack hit from 2000 of the same name based on the Nick Hornby novel, but with a major gender twist: Rob is now played by Zöe Kravitz (whose mother Lisa Bonet was in the original film!). We’ve moved from London, where the book is set, to Wicker Park, Chicago for the 2000 film, to Crown Heights, Brooklyn for the new series. All the main elements are there though: the All-Time Top Five Most Memorable Heartbreak set to music, a record shop run by Rob within which a quirky set of characters work, and the trails and tribulations of a new relationship.
Untapped New York’s office has been in Crown Heights for many years, and we’ve seen film sets like Wonderstruck and High Maintenance shoot here. Just blocks from us were all the essential locations in the pilot episode, including the record shop, bar, Rob’s apartment, and more. Discover below, the film locations for High Fidelity!
Photo by Phillip Caruso/Hulu
Just off the corner of Bedford Avenue and Sterling Place in Crown Heights is the location of the record shop, Championship Vinyl, in High Fidelity. Located on the first floor of a residential walkup at 1475 Bedford Avenue, the record shop is set in what used to be a real hardware store. It’s been closed for a long time, but a makeshift sign still hangs. In the show, you will notice the teal blue paint on the exterior roll down grate and the front fence. When the roll down grate is open, you can see the letting on the door that says Championship Vinyl. However, the interior is a set. We got a peek inside and the shop interior not nearly as wide or has any of the built elements, you see in the show.
The Championship Vinyl film location is situated across the street from a notable, landmarked building, the former Studebaker showroom. The film Wonderstruck used both the Studebaker showroom and the church across the street as part of the set, transforming the street and buildings in 1920s New York. Rob works here with Simon (played by David H. Holmes) and Cherise (played by Da’Vine Joy Randolph).
Photo by Phillip Caruso/Hulu
Rob goes on a date with Clyde (played by Jake Lacey) at the Allied Bar, which is a fictional bar in Crown Heights. Geographically, it located less than a block away from the record shop, in a former travel agency at 1457 Bedford Avenue. In a nice touch, the production team named the bar after the travel agency’s name, Allied Travel Bureau, and we saw electricians fixing the original neon sign above the storefront for the shoot.
Photo by Phillip Caruso/Hulu
Rob goes regularly to the bodega across the street from Championship Vinyl, which in real life is an actual bodega called Tony’s Deli Grocery Corp. Likely thanks to the filming of the High Fidelity, the bodega got a nice signage upgrade along with the colored flashing lights around the windows you see in the show.
In scenes where Rob and her friends from the record shop, Simon and Cherise, are walking around the area, you’ll also see King’s Wok, a Chinese takeout across the street and the townhouses that line Sterling Place between Bedford and Franklin avenues.
Photo by Phillip Caruso/Hulu
In the first episode, Rob’s apartment is shown as walkup building in Crown Heights. The actual location is 615 Lincoln Place, at the corner of St. John’s Place, a very quaint mid-block street. It’s just off Franklin Avenue, the main restaurant and commercial stretch of Crown Heights, with notable restaurants like Barboncino and Mayfield.
The apartment building is a five minute walk from the bar, so it we were to be picky about actual geography, Rob would not need a ride in Clyde’s car to get to their place. But, precise geography is not what this is about!
Rob thinks that Clyde peaced out on her in the morning after their hookup but he returns that evening, saying it was all because his car was towed and he left his phone in her apartment. Rob isn’t really into dealing with this, so she heads back to the bar, and then bumps into ex-boyfriend Russell “Mac” McCormack, the subject of heartbreak #5 who has returned from London.
She gets hit by a bike messenger crossing the street, and her and Mac meet in front of what is Sushi Tastu, at the corner of Franklin Avenue and Dean Street.
Photo by Phillip Caruso/Hulu
In the second episode, Simon and Cherise descend on her apartment and convince her to go out. They head to The Good Room, a music venue in Greenpoint at 98 Meserole Avenue that is mentioned as being “around the corner” from Championship Vinyl. We know that in real geography, that isn’t accurate but this is conceptual Brooklyn after all!
Rob mentions that this place is one of the only places that feels like “old New York to her,” but is kind of put-off originally when she walks in and hears Boyz II Men. The Good Room replaced the former club Europa, and a serious renovation was done in 2014.
Photo by Phillip Caruso/Hulu
Also in the second episode, Rob has brunch at Glady’s, a Jamaican eatery on Franklin Avenue in Crown Heights. This location was also featured in Luke Cage and most recently in Modern Love on Amazon.
Her brother and partner Nikki tell her that Mac has moved back to New York, a fact that Rob already knows. But then they mention they were “so over that Lily girl”….
Photo by Phillip Caruso/Hulu
In the third episode, Rob is on a quest to know who Lily is and Mac’s new girlfriend’s Instagram does not reveal much except dogs, sunsets, and that she likes “Frosé All Day.” Rob has no idea what Frosé is so she heads into Cafe Colette, in Williamsburg, to try it out and see what type of women like Frosé.
Cafe Colette is located on the corner of Berry Street and N. 9th Street at 79 Berry Street.
In the fourth episode, Rob sees Simon in a coffee shop and excitedly wants to tell him about her discoveries about Kevin Bannister, her first heartbreak. They go into the now defunct coffee shop, Pharmer Joe, where Simon flirts with the bartender.
This same location, with the stone arch and glass facade (likely the original entrance to this apartment building), is now Chocolatte at 800 Franklin Avenue.
Stay tuned for more filming locations as High Fidelity continues on Hulu! Next, check out 10 hidden gems in Crown Heights.
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