Local Illumineati dinner club goes public

All Tampa Bay diners may now join the Illumineati, but the meals' underground nature will remain.

click to enlarge Illumineati organizes secret feasts with local chefs around the Bay area. - Meaghan Habuda
Meaghan Habuda
Illumineati organizes secret feasts with local chefs around the Bay area.


Over the weekend, the Illumineati supper club, headed by founders Jimmy Breen and Johnny Ciani, announced it would open up its underground invite-only dinner parties to the public.

"In order to pay the chefs, their staff, and our service staff," Breen told the club's Facebook group, "we need to sell out every dinner."

When Illumineati was established in 2014, its membership grew through an inside referral system, much like other covert dinner clubs throughout the country.

Although the change permits any adventurous eater to attend the club's pop-up happenings, details about each meal, including the featured chef and the location, will be kept under wraps. Those who have attended Illumineati before will continue to receive email notifications on new dinners before anyone else.

The club's next feast happens from 6 to 10 p.m. Sunday, and tickets may be purchased online.

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