Remember Flyfish Club, the Gary Vaynerchuck-affiliated dining club that made news when it announced it was planning to build the world’s first NFT restaurant?
While you may not, the restaurant industry sure does. After the group raised an impressive $14 million in just weeks by selling tiered memberships via NFT, it seemed everyone started wondering, ‘Could it really be this easy?’ (Editor spoiler: For others, it was not that easy. Copycats proliferated, but none matched the success of Flyfish).
Since the group’s launch over two years ago, Flyfish has been mostly quiet, holding the occasional get-together and trickling out updates. Because of this relative quiet, members were naturally excited last week when Flyfish teased on its Discord that an announcement would be coming on April 5th. And, as it turns out, it was a pretty big announcement.
The group showed off what Gary Vaynerchuk described as a first look at the restaurant, calling the images photos even though some of the images—including the sushi chef—were clearly computer renderings. The renderings looked a lot like almost every Vegas restaurant or lounge I’ve ever been in.
Welcome to Flyfish Club.
— Flyfish Club (@Flyfishclub) April 5, 2024
Nestled in the bustling heart of Manhattan's Lower East Side, Flyfish Club extends over three expansive levels of meticulously designed space.
Members enjoy private access to a variety of curated areas, rooted in elevated dining and social experiences.… pic.twitter.com/E5MjhXPbAt
More importantly, though, the announcement provided many more details about membership specifics, some of which the early members found frustrating.
One of those details, which can be seen in this Q&A PDF, is the group has made a fairly significant shift in its approach by letting folks purchase memberships in an old-school, non-Blockchain way. According to Flyfish, prospective members can purchase memberships by paying a one-time entrance fee of $1,500 (no crypto needed) and an annual membership fee of $3,500 ($4,000 if you want membership for yourself and a partner).
Another detail that caused some to bristle was the annual membership fee of $500 for “Blockchain” members (meaning members who entered through buying an NFT). As one Twitter user complained, “The mint was ~$8k in eth at the time, +2yrs of waiting and now we have to pay $500/year to get comp’d $500 in expensive food/drinks. Should be 2-3x that per year to make early backers feel whole.”
My guess is the group decided to become more flexible with membership options because the cost of constructing and operating a restaurant in New York City, as well as paying operating salaries to what is essentially a startup in the Flyfish Club team, is incredibly expensive. It’s also a recognition that while NFT membership is a cool idea that no doubt appeals to the Gary V community, most high-rollers in NYC who usually would pay for a dining club are probably not big NFT enthusiasts. While this will undoubtedly take some of the shine of exclusivity that appealed to the crypto in-crowd when it was first announced, I’m guessing that keeping the restaurant solvent is probably a good long-term thing.
Not all the new details were bummers. One new benefit Flyfish announced is partners are now included. While initially, the blockchain memberships meant only the holder was a member, now they say spouses or partners are also included as members. The group also detailed how membership gave members priority reservation access to other VCR Group (the holding group for Flyfish Club) restaurants.
Of course, none of this actually includes food if you are a non-Blockchain member. After these members pay their dues, no food is included. In other words, it’s pretty much the same as every other dining or country club. It’s mostly the same for blockchain members, though Flyfish will apply their $500 membership as a credit towards meals purchased at the club. Beyond that, though, they’re paying for every meal.
We’ll be in NYC this summer, so hopefully, we’ll be able to get a sneak peek. If one of our readers gets a chance to visit the Flyfish Club, drop us a line (with actual photos) and let us know what you think.
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