Inside Crane Club, a Lavish New York Restaurant Led by a Michelin Two-Starred Chef

The former space in is ready for its third act.

The West Chelsea building, which originally housed a Nabisco factory, is now home to , a collaboration between the chef Melissa Rodriguez and Tao Group Hospitality. Rodriguez has been cooking in the space’s kitchen since Del Posto was around—after that restaurant closed, she opened , which at its height had two Michelin stars. Tao Group in August 2023, and now it’s relaunching the space with a menu focused on wood-fired items.

Crane Club is the first time Rodriguez gets to flex her muscles outside of a strictly French or Italian restaurant. Here, she’s designed a custom 12-foot Mibrasa wood-fired grill that was built in Spain and imported to New York. Using that piece of equipment, she’s cooking up meats like a 27-ounce bone-in ribeye, a Duroc pork double chop, and chicken with za’atar, tahini, and cilantro.

Outside of the grill, there’s a roving raw-bar cart from which diners can choose a plethora of oysters, razor clams, shrimp cocktail, caviar, and more. Produce features heavily in starters like the fall chicory salad with tempura root vegetables and black truffle vinaigrette, as well as sides such as caraflex cabbage with dashi and jalapeño and potato and apple gratin. Rodriguez’s Italian background comes out in a series of pasta dishes: Baked shells are filled with ricotta and mascarpone, then topped with black truffle jus. Seasonal tortellini, meanwhile, uses fall squash and spinach, with a Parmigiano Reggiano brodo.

For dessert, the pastry chef Georgia Wodder has whipped up classics like cheesecake and apple crumble, alongside more creative fare such as tahini lava cake and guava layer cake. Cocktails come courtesy of Chris Lemperle (Crown Shy, Overstory), with several options also available sans alcohol. The beet Gibson sees gin and vermouth complemented by beet and pickled onion, while the Chelsea sour highlights a bourbon base with notes of apricot, miso, and lemon. The wine list, curated by Cat Fanelli, includes more than 1,000 international wines.

To renovate a space that many diners may have previously found themselves in, Tao Group’s in-house design team worked with Laseu Studio. The grand dining room, which sports double-height ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows, has been done up in red velvet, with herringbone floors and textured walls hand-brushed with gold leaf. Art Deco accents serve as a reminder of the building’s history. And a separate bar room is centered around a long 12-seat red marble bar.

Given that Del Posto and Al Coro before it both notched two Michelin stars, now Rodriguez will see if Crane Club can reach those heights too.

Click to see all the images of Crane Club.

Credit: robbreport.com