Flyfish Club, The First Private Restaurant To Accept Member Payments In NFT

Flying Fish, a restaurant that offers NFT in its membership. (photo: tripadvisor)

JAKARTA - VCR Group, the hospitality company founded by entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, announced a direct token sale of a private, new member-only restaurant in New York City, called the Flyfish Club. Prospective diners of this seafood restaurant must purchase their membership on the blockchain, which is sold as a nonfungible token (NFT).

VCR Group answers the question “Why NFT?” on the Flyfish Club website, stating:

“By leveraging NFT, FFC is able to create a community of loyal members that we can provide a special experience for. NFT is creating a new modernistic financial model, which will enable FFC to deliver outstanding and sustainable products for years to come.”

Flyfish Club (FFC) is the world's first member's only private dining club where membership is purchased on the blockchain as a Non-Fungible-Token (NFT) and owned by the token-holder to gain access to our restaurant and various culinary, cultural and social experiences.

— Flyfish Club (@Flyfishclub) January 12, 2022

According to a Cointelegraph report, there are two types of membership available on their official website. Regular tier membership gives members access to the main dining area, outdoor lounge and cocktail lounge, and special events for 2.5 Ether (ETH), or 8.474 US dollars worth at the time of writing.

The second, pricier tier, Flyfish Omakase, will give you access to all of the above plus an omakase room that only seats 14 and is now available for 4.25 ETH or $14.400.

According to its website, Flyfish Membership NFT holders can lease their tokens to non-token holders on a monthly basis, or they can resell them. There are also no recurring annual fees. Although crypto is required to obtain a membership, customers can pay for their food and drinks in US dollars.

Flyfish Club is VCR Group's second concept, following the opening of Ito's omakase-style Japanese restaurant, which is also in New York City but not just for members. The Flyfish Club is scheduled to open in early 2023.

Flyfish Club claims to be the world's first member-only NFT restaurant. However, this is not the first culinary concept to integrate crypto into its business model. Recently, Crypto Street Restaurant opened in Clearwater, Florida, exhibiting crypto-themed wall art, menu items, and accepting payments in crypto.