Inside Major Food Group’s New N.Y.C. Members Club
Carbone’s first private restaurant has been in the works for more than a year, and it’s finally getting ready to debut in New York City.
Carbone Privato will be part of Major Food Group’s new members-only ZZ’s Club in Manhattan West, scheduled to open next month, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. The restaurant will take up the second floor of the 25,000-square-foot space, with the Japanese ZZ’s located on the ground floor, in addition to a tropical-inspired bar. Designed by Ken Fulk, the club is likely to attract the same high-flying clientele that frequents other MFG outposts in the city, including the original Carbone and the new, noteworthy Torrisi.
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Like other Carbone locations, the Privato version will be decked out with velvet banquettes and huge chandeliers. A 60-seat dining room will be reserved for founding members, who paid a $50,000 application fee on top of their $10,000 annual fee. Non-founders, with a membership fee of $20,000 and the same $10,000 annual fee, will be relegated to a separate room.
In a city full of private clubs—Zero Bond, Casa Cipriani, the list goes on—ZZ’s Club is trying to set it itself apart by serving meals worth their cost. “Food is the Achilles’ heel of private clubs,” Major Food Group’s Jeff Zalaznick told Bloomberg. Here, “food is the focus.” Beyond the classic Carbone dishes, chef and co-founder Mario Carbone has dreamed up about 24 new offerings. Those range from the brand’s first-ever risottos, including a dramatic lobster version, to tortellini en brodo served in a pot at your table.
Beyond the menu, members will be able to ask Carbone’s chefs to make whatever they wish, from mac and cheese to a grandmother’s beloved tuna-casserole recipe. The restaurant will be happy to oblige, as long as it’s given 48 hours’ notice. Chef Carbone told Bloomberg that his team will try to faithfully re-create anything a guest asks for, while Zalaznick added that prices for custom dishes will be “in line” with those at Major Food Group’s other restaurants. (Carbone’s famed rigatoni vodka sells for $34.) And the concierge at ZZ’s Club will also source ingredients, like Japanese steaks, for members to cook at their Hamptons homes over the weekend.
More ZZ’s Clubs may pop up across the country or even internationally in the future, with Zalaznick saying that the concept is a good model for expansion. And Major Food Group is planning to debut its first Mexican restaurant, Chateau ZZ, in Miami later this year. The hospitality company’s fine-dining takeover continues apace.
Click here to see all the images of ZZ’s Club.
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