Flyfish Club
Restaurant · Lower East Side
141 E Houston St, New York, NY 10002
.jpg "Flyfish Club by Noah Fecks/Flyfish Club")
.jpg "Flyfish Club by Flyfish Club")
Highlights
Elevated dining with a restaurant, lounge, private dining
Elevated dining with a restaurant, lounge, private dining
"Flyfish Club is a new members-only club located on Manhattan's Lower East Side. It features unique lounges and dining experiences, such as the Cattail Lounge, which can be transformed into themed tasting rooms." - Stacey Leasca Stacey Leasca Stacey Leasca is an award-winning journalist and co-founder of Be a Travel Writer, an online course for the next generation of travel journalists. Her photos, videos, and words have appeare
"This members-only restaurant by VCR group (the same team as Little Maven) has finally opened. Originally, one could only gain membership by purchasing one of VCR's limited NFTs, but membership can now be purchased traditionally. Unlike other member clubs in the city, the atmosphere here is vibrant, colorful, and unfussy. While, yes, the idea behind Flyfish Club is an exclusive dining experience—with their main restaurant, an omakase speakeasy, and a bar all under one roof—you can also dine as a non-member so long as you’re with someone who is (and, let’s be honest—in a well-connected place like NYC, finding a friend of a friend in order to try a new restaurant is probably easier than you’d think.) The menu here touches many cuisines: Asian, Italian, and some Mediterranean dishes too. We started with the salmon crispy rice ($25) and a few sushi rolls, and then went right to a delicious rendition of cacio e pepe called Squaccio e pepe ($24)—a riff on the Roman dish with a hint of sweet squash puree throughout the cheese-y sauce. Our entree was the Chicken Caesar ($36), a large plate of crispy chicken Milanese with a mountain of crunchy Caesar salad. It was one of those places where we were “oooh”ing and “aaah”ing at each dish that passed by—really nothing on the menu looked bad. For dessert, we devoured VCR group’s classic $23 banana split sundae with brûléed bananas, sprinkles, whipped cream, and a dramatic chocolate drizzle. From now on, I think I’ll need a banana split sundae to cap off every meal. —Emily Adler, associate social media manager" - CNT Editors
"Located at 141 E. Houston Street at Forsyth Street, I finally visited the newly opened Flyfish Club, a three-story, 11,000-square-foot members-only space built on the former Sunshine Cinema site and developed by East End Capital, Grandview Partners, and KPG Funds with the club run by VCR Group (including Gary Vaynerchuk), chefs Josh Capon and Conor Hanlon, and CEO David Rodolitz. The club launched after raising roughly $14 million via NFTs years before opening but has since dropped its NFT-only requirement and begun selling real-money memberships that start at $3,500 for an individual ($4,000 with a spouse) with a $1,500 initiation for non-NFT joiners, while higher-tier buy-ins previously ranged from about $8,000 to $14,000. I learned that token prices once began at 2.5 ETH (then about $8,400), were later listed at 3.5 ETH (roughly $5,590), and even reached listings as high as 150 ETH, though tokens trade far less today; the club reports about 1,000 active members, roughly 100 people on a waitlist, and a goal of 2,500–3,000 members. Early blockchain members pay $500 yearly dues and receive a $500 food credit, and Rodolitz says the founders don’t automatically know NFT members’ identities until they reveal themselves. Designed by Garrett Singer Design, the space includes a restaurant, bar, private dining room, lounge, and an omakase counter in collaboration with sushi chefs Masa Ito and Kevin Kim, with a menu from Capon and Hanlon featuring a raw bar and sushi ($19 to market price), salads and small plates like whipped pumpkin hummus, lamb lollipops, and burrata with caviar ($18–$42), pastas such as lumache pomodoro with peekytoe crab ($36), entrees including salmon, halibut, tuna, short ribs, and a burger ($32–$42), and steak options at market price; the club also plans nightly live entertainment. " - Melissa McCart
"Set to open later this year at 141 E. Houston Street (at Forsyth), the restaurant-to-be Flyfish Club — which famously raised $14 million in NFT memberships before even finding a space — is pivoting to traditional memberships: fees now start at $3,500 for a single and $4,000 with a spouse, with $1,500 initiation fees for either. That’s a steep reduction from the original $8,000–$14,000 base-level NFT buy-ins. The new offering requires an online application and no longer includes NFT ownership; the project is being developed by VCR Group, whose principals include Gary Vaynerchuk, chefs Josh Capon and Conor Hanlon, and David Rodolitz." - Melissa McCart
"We also noted the private Lower East Side Flyfish Club affiliated with the VCR Group, which raised $14 million in Bitcoin via NFTs for one-percenter memberships; it isn’t open yet and, whenever we’ve walked by, has seemed awfully quiet." - Robert Sietsema
