By Contributor Laurie Werner Theo Wargo
Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks in action. Through Chase Sapphire Reserve’s program Summer, Reserved, he’s one of the celebrities cardholders can meet. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
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A New York Knicks fan who wants to meet the team鈥檚 star guard Jalen Brunson and perhaps continue to discuss/mourn the team鈥檚 playoff loss can do that on July 23. It will take place during a dinner at the critically lauded West Village restaurant San Sabino, a tough reservation to get for its Italian accented seafood, in collaboration with Brooklyn鈥檚 revered pizza specialist Lucali. The requirement: a Chase Sapphire Reserve card, which will also get cardmembers access to other special experiences as part of the program Summer, Reserved.
The Premise of the Program Summer, Reserved
鈥淥ur cardmembers have made it clear: they鈥檙e looking for more than just reservations. They want access – access to the restaurants they love and the kind of one-of-a-kind moments you can鈥檛 otherwise create,鈥 according to Sam Palmer, General Manager of Chase Sapphire. 鈥淪ummer, Reserved is our way of delivering on that, with unforgettable experiences in incredible spaces鈥攁nd there鈥檚 still so much more to come.鈥
Meeting Lin-Manuel Miranda and Dinner At the Public Theater
Lin-Manuel Miranda onstage as Alexander Hamilton during the Hamilton performance at the 2016 GRAMMY Awards. (Photo by Theo Wargo/WireImage)
Another event, just over a week after the Brunson event on August 1 is geared more to theater fans. Anyone who watched this year鈥檚 Tony Awards and saw the mashup of Hamilton musical numbers featuring the show鈥檚 original cast is aware that the groundbreaking musical is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. So who better to meet than the show鈥檚 creator, original Alexander Hamilton and theater icon Lin-Manuel Miranda on the stage of New York鈥檚 Public Theater where the show launched before heading to Broadway. Dinner on the stage is also included, created by the restaurant Colonia Verde.
Out in the Hamptons
Since it鈥檚 summertime when the New York scene largely shifts east to the Hamptons, activities are also being assembled out there. Among them: a popup available to cardmembers from the Los Angeles/Las Vegas/Miami celebrity hotspot Delilah that will similarly be hard to get into but will be easily accessible for cardmembers.
The Program鈥檚 Restaurants for Special Events
Shrimp Parm, a signature dish at San Sabino, one of the New York restaurants featured in Summer, Reserved.
Restaurant experiences are a mainstay of elite cardmember perks, an area to which Chase Sapphire Reserve executives devote special focus, particularly with the acquisition of The Infatuation, an opinionated, sometimes cheeky, always honest restaurant review site that started in New York and expanded nationally and internationally. 鈥淲e always try to meet our cardmembers where they are 鈥 whether it鈥檚 the city they live in, a place they frequently travel to, or simply somewhere they want to be,鈥 explains Chris Stang, co-founder of The Infatuation and head of lifestyle at Chase. 鈥淔or Summer, Reserved, we chose locations where we could curate something they won鈥檛 find elsewhere that鈥檚 interesting, exciting and also feels relevant to the time of year. As we move forward, you can expect to see us announce more experiences throughout the year that take place in different cities across the country and beyond.鈥
The signature rolled lasagna at New York restaurant Don Angie.
Ashley Sears
This summer, the program includes restaurant takeovers between July 23 and 26, collaborations between two restaurants and special chef moments. In New York, the takeovers are the San Sabino and Lucali collaboration (on July 24-26 following the Jalen Brunson dinner); San Sabino鈥檚 sister restaurant, the inventive Italian Don Angie next door; Chez Fifi, the cozy French bistro on the Upper East Side that鈥檚 been described as the toughest table to get in town and Kabawa, the Lower East Side Caribbean restaurant that鈥檚 part of star chef David Chang鈥檚 Momofuku group.
A dinner party at Majordomo in Los Angeles hosted by David Chang for his Netflix series Ugly Delicious. (Photo by Rachel Murray/Getty Images for Netflix)
Getty Images for Netflix
In Los Angeles, the chosen restaurants include another Chang restaurant Majordomo in a collaboration with the Mexican seafood spot Loreto; the French-Japanese bistro Cam茅lia and the Mexican-Italian restaurant Amiga Amore. The Chicago program spotlights four restaurants: the James Beard nominated Mexican Mariscos San Pedro in collaboration with the modern French Obelix; the Latin American Cari帽o; Italian Alla Vita and Basque Asador Bastian. Nashville has one event on July 26: Bad Idea, a wine bar with Laotian cuisine in collaboration with Miami鈥檚 hyper seasonal Kr眉s Kitchen.
Other Perks
Apart from the summer special events, Chase is also adding other perks to the card: a new annual $300 dining credit along with primetime reservations through Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables, a growing list of hundreds of restaurants curated by The Infatuation and OpenTable in collaboration with the Visa Dining Collection. And more special features are on the way.
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