SNEAK PEEK
- Restaurant Dame in Greenwich Village was charging $1,000 NFTs for membership in its “Affable Hospitality Club,” which allowed members to skip the line for reservations.
- This left a bad taste in the mouths of a few Twitter users.
- Several of the responses challenged the notion of buying an NFT to make a reservation for a restaurant that already accepts reservations.
A tweet that has now gone viral revealed that the Greenwich Village eatery Dame was paying $1,000 NFTs to join its “Affable Hospitality Club,” which would let members avoid the wait for reservations. This left several Twitter users with a nasty taste in their mouths.
Maya Kosoff tweeted, “I will bravely state it: NYC restaurant reservation culture has gone too far.
i will bravely say it: nyc restaurant reservation culture has gone too far pic.twitter.com/itj6zcmgJV
— maya kosoff (@mekosoff) August 29, 2022
Kosoff, a content strategist, writer, and editor, shared a review from the New York-based restaurant review site The Infatuation that included information about the membership offer.
The idea of purchasing an NFT to make a reservation for a restaurant that already accepts reservations was criticized in a few of the answers, which also noted the city’s abundance of dining options. One user commented that it was “impressive to see a restaurant find a use of technology even worse than the QR code menu,” prompting another to point out that QR code menus do at least make some customers’ access to food and services easier.
the desperate search for a legitimate use case for NFTs continues. in this edition it replaces the burden of rich people bribing the maitre d.
— therealseanharvey (@seanharvey1) August 29, 2022
The ensuing controversy immediately gained attention in The Daily Mail. Finding a table at the restaurant might be difficult, according to the Dame review in The Infatuation.
The post read that Mondays are walk-in only; reservations are released online 12 weeks in advance at noon. You can also just get an NFT that permits preferential booking if appearing on a Monday sounds too taxing (not kidding).
Although the Dame website makes no mention of NFTs, The Infatuation claims that each Dame Affable Hospitality Club NFT costs $1,000 and grants access to private tables. In its review, it directs users to Front of House, another website that provides further information on the NFTs with a fish-and-chips motif.
