Taste Club, a first-of-its-kind national dining & global luxury travel club supported by an internal, best-in-class concierge team, is poised to launch in May 2023. Benefiting nonprofits in the hospitality industry, and committed to championing independent restaurants, Taste Club is partnering with a Who’s Who collection of celebrated chefs across the country.
Memberships provide access to exclusive dining experiences curated for them by each of the celebrated chefs/restaurant partners. In addition, members will enjoy access to bespoke luxury travel experiences: a blending of effortless travel, transportation, insider access to premier events, stunning accommodations, and unforgettable culinary experiences. From the moment a membership is approved, members will have direct access to the Taste Club concierge platform to book their first dining or travel experience.

Taste Club utilizes state-of-the-art technology to offer transferable memberships, granting members the ability to instantly share their membership benefits with friends, family, and colleagues, while giving them full access to Taste Club’s suite of services. Memberships are priced at $7,500 for a one-time initiation fee, with monthly dues of $300. Due to the high-touch, personalized nature of the Taste Club offering, enrollment is limited and requires a selection process to determine eligibility. Taste Club has launched an online application process for those interested in the opportunity to purchase a membership.

Taste Club was conceptualized by Baton Rouge, LA-born and bred hospitality veteran Joshua Kopel. Kopel, formerly the President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the California Restaurant Association, is keenly aware of the challenges that face independent restaurants and has dedicated himself to connecting those looking for boundless culinary and travel experiences with the chefs and travel experts that have always dreamed of offering them. Curated by the tastemakers that have defined their industry, Taste Club was created to take the stress and guesswork out of planning, providing an effortless path to luxury and leisure.

“Taste Club was designed to offer an unparalleled experience and exceptional value to our membership base, our restaurant and travel partners, and the non-profit organizations we support,” said Kopel who was inspired to create a massive impact within the hospitality industry. “We’re investing in the future of our industry by building a one-of-a-kind service that will create a more sustainable model for the hospitality industry.”

Said Yangban co-owner Katianna Hong, “We’re super excited to be a part of Taste Club. To be able to create without limits and just go for it is so fun and something that we’ve missed.”

Chef Partners

Taste Club members will have preferred access to an ever-expanding portfolio of acclaimed chefs and restaurants across the country.  Taste Club chefs are not only celebrated by the Michelin Guide and the James Beard Foundation, but are leaders in their culinary specialties and communities, and are eager to utilize their partnership with Taste Club to create one-of-a-kind experiences for their guests. Today, Taste Club announced their 12 founding chef partners:

José Andrés / é by José Andrés / Las Vegas
Michael Anthony / Gramercy Tavern / New York
Rick Bayless / Topolobampo / Chicago
David Barzelay / Lazy Bear / San Francisco
Katianna Hong & John Hong / Yangban / Los Angeles
Aisha Ibrahim / Canlis / Seattle
Brandon Jew / Mister Jiu’s / San Francisco
Jordan Kahn / Meteora / Los Angeles
Walter Manzke & Margarita Manzke/ Mankze / Los Angeles
Wolfgang Puck / Spago / Beverly Hills
Melissa Rodriguez / Al Coro / New York
Jeremiah Stone & Fabián von Hauske Valtierra / Contra / New York
Travel Tastemakers

Kopel and Taste Club have assembled a dream team of luxury travel experts to add unparalleled value to memberships. Understanding how integral dining and culinary experiences are to travel, the team has designed an ever-evolving collection of on-demand travel experiences as well as insider access to premier events across the globe. Featured Tastemakers include:

Hans & Maureen Paap / Co-Founder & Director of Hospitality at AOH Travel
Leigh Rowan / Former COO of The Points Guy & Founder of Savanti Travel
Michael Shane Stephens / Founder and Global Director of Curated Global Travel
Taste Club’s travel experts have curated one-of-a-kind luxury travel experiences, providing insider access to major sporting events, arts and culinary festivals, New York Fashion Week, and international events. Experiences range from four nights in New York for the US Tennis Open men’s and women’s finals, a Broadway show with a private cast reception, and an after-hours tour and dinner at MoMA, to a members-only buyout of the exclusive five-star Hacienda AltaGracia inclusive of daily activities with acclaimed Taste Club chefs, spa and wellness treatments, and an insider’s tour of local gems.

Between Taste Club’s Travel Tastemakers and in-house team, every event and travel experience will have a Taste Club representative on-site to ensure a seamless experience.

Non Profit Donations

The mission of Taste Club is to invest in the future of the hospitality industry through financial contributions to both non-profit organizations and restaurateurs that exemplify Taste Club’s core values of service to the industry and its communities. Taste Club has committed to donating over $1,000,000 to organizations that support the hospitality industry and unite people through food, the principal beneficiary being the James Beard Foundation.

“We are grateful to the Taste Club team for believing in our Good Food for Good mission and supporting our work through this very generous donation,” said Clare Reichenbach, CEO of the James Beard Foundation. “The funds will be directed towards our entire slate of impact programs—initiatives which provide critical support to the independent restaurant community, and which champion a more sustainable, equitable, and vital future for the food and beverage industry.”

Sustainability Partner Zero Foodprint

As the Taste Club network expands geographically, Kopel is mindful of the impact that the organization has on the environment. Taste Club is a sustainable enterprise working to mitigate 100% of their carbon footprint. Said Kopel, “We intend to mitigate our carbon footprint by engaging with a sustainability partner who’s not only working to support the environment, but the restaurant industry as well.”

To that end, Taste Club has chosen the nonprofit organization Zero Foodprint as that partner. In support of ZFP’s mission to mobilize the food world around agricultural climate solutions, Taste Club will donate $50,000 to the organization who will supply those funds as grants to farmers using regenerative farming practices—proven to be the most impactful initiative yet towards solving global warming.