Kitchen Collective: Exclusive New Culinary Club Opening in Napa

While shared tasting rooms are fairly common today, in 2002, the idea was somewhat of a novelty. However, it’s a concept that Garret Murphy realized when he opened Vintner’s Collective, a tasting room that housed a select group of Napa’s boutique wineries all in one space. Today, Murphy’s turned his attention toward another revolutionary brainchild, a prestigious urban cooking club. Next month Kitchen Collective will open its doors in downtown Napa at 1650 Soscol Avenue. Part restaurant and part country club, Kitchen Collective is a members-only social club that is centered around the activities of a shared state-of-the-art kitchen. Currently, it’s the only culinary club of this sort in the nation.

Murphy was inspired by Europe’s culture of communal cooking and the sharing economy that is popular in the Bay Area, thanks to start-ups like Uber and Airbnb. “It’s taking a start-up concept that has been around for a while, and mixing it with the European tradition of social cooking to create something innovative and exciting that has never been done here before,” he explained. “The concept of shared cooking has been around for centuries in Basque Country, celebrating the epicurean experience through bringing people together and helping all involved become better chefs by creating dishes together. I am absolutely thrilled to be bringing this amazing European concept to life in America, and what better place to start in than Napa.”

Murphy hopes to create an epicurean experience in a non-pretentious, yet luxurious setting. “The shared kitchen lets members have fun creating a unique meal with a professional chef using new tools, and share it with their friends and family,” he said. Members have access to the Collective’s gourmet kitchen—that is stocked with tools and ingredients not available to the everyday home cook—and its professional chef. The Collective will host exclusive events including food classes, culinary competitions and visiting chef and vintner dinners and tastings. As well as being a space where members can host an elegant dinner party, the Collective will have a full bar and menu of bites. The private club requires an initiation fee and has tiered membership with full or social access options. Social members are not allowed to use the kitchen, but can partake in the food-centric festivities.