New Orleans opens First Cocktail Bar with NFT membership ShaSha Lounge

ShaSha Lounge Social Aid and Pleasure Club is New Orleans’ first cocktail lounge to offer NFT membership, opened in 2023 and founded by chef Nina Compton and her business partner and husband Larry Miller. Compton and Miller are the couple behind the New Orleans restaurants Compère Lapin and Bywater American Bistro, and they founded ShaSha with the goal of having money available to help the community in the wake of natural disasters.

“There have been some challenging things in the last couple of years here with the pandemic, for people in the service industry,” Miller told Thrillist. “Restaurants closed down and people in town needed help. We were able to cook and host fundraisers quickly, but then got hit by Hurricane Ida. We were wondering how we can get ahead of that to have money available so we can make that impact with dollars. We cook; we feed people. But we also have to use it with dollars when we need to help our neighbors quickly.”

New Orleans’ traditional and historic social service and pleasure clubs were founded on similar principles—helping the community quickly in times of need and well-being. Funding community aid is something that separates ShaSha Lounge Social Aid and Pleasure Club from what many envision when they think of NFTs, blockchain, Web3 and the metaverse. “We want to promote the ideas and benefits of what you can do with NFT,” says Miller. “You can rent your NFT and then when it’s expired, that’s it.”

Other restaurants (which some now call “club restaurants”) charge upwards of $1,000 for their NFT memberships, which allow diners to skip the line for a table.

Parting from rest comes naturally to Compton and Miller. In December 2020, they partnered with American Express and Resy to offer outdoor service in yurts at Bywater American Bistro. “We made the yurts so we could bring in all the employees, back when restaurants could only operate at 50 percent capacity indoors,” says Miller. “What can we do to make it better without reinventing the wheel?”

Exclusive ShaSha Lounge membership is available to those who purchase ShaSha NFT. Benefits of membership include increased access to the lounge and unique experiences and opportunities, including access to private areas and events at ShaSha, virtual events with chef partners, exclusive content and nationwide dining benefits. ShaSha Lounge will include a bar, intimate lounge and private areas for special events, rare tastings and cocktail classes. Compton, of course, makes small plates.

“It’s our own thing, and it gets a little more fun when we bring in all the different partners, programming, cooking classes, demonstrations and other cool things with local art and music,” says Miller.

Chefs Marc Forgione, Michelle Bernstein, Rodney Scott, Tiffani Faison and Stephanie Izard are partners in ShaSha and will collaborate quarterly on new cocktails, participate in live and virtual events for members, develop exclusive content for the community and individually program the club one week each year .

“When we came to town eight years ago, we were terrified that everyone would think we were carpetbaggers,” says Miller. “But we came with tremendous respect for the city. Didn’t try to reinvent New Orleans, didn’t say we’re going to make New Orleans Creole food. We’re making Caribbean Creole. We’re here and we love being part of the city and are happy that the city has accepted us.”