ZZ’s, the members club that Major Food Group’s Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi and Jeff Zalaznick debuted in mid-November 2023, is an extravagant dining destination that progressively gets more over-the-top as you ascend the grand stairs and weave yourself through the different Ken Fulk-designed settings.

Located in Hudson Yards, ZZ’s is Major Food Group’s first New York private club (the original opened in Miami in 2021), and it’s without question the most lavish and exclusive thing that the hospitality brand has ever created.

So let’s start at the top, at the Founders’ Room, tucked behind the world’s first private Carbone.

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The Founders’ Room is a 60-seat space reserved for, as you may have guessed, the founding members of the club, who can order anything from the menus of both Carbone Privato on the same floor and the ZZ’s Japanese brasserie one level below. The 250 founding memberships, which cost $50,000 plus $10,000 in annual dues, sold out quickly. But like at any private club, the owners have the discretion to add additional memberships in special circumstances.

In the last decade, Major Food Group has reached the pinnacle of the hospitality industry with its hyper-focused approach to top-tier cooking, opulent experiences and tableside theatrics. Dinner is the show. The recent rebirth of Torrisi, the restaurant that started it all, has been a blowout success that earned a Michelin star in less than a year. But the Founders’ Room really takes it all to another level.

With 48-hours’ notice, dedicated culinary concierges will work with ZZ’s chefs to fulfill any dish or menu request in the Founders’ Room. There’s been some confusion about what this means for the savvy, well-traveled, unlimited-bankroll founding members........

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