Crane Club NYC’s sexiest new restaurant
Surprise!
The tainted West Chelsea/Meatpacking District location that was once home to disgraced Del Posto and the unappealing Al Coro has been reborn as Crane Club — and it’s a total knockout.
The sexy and beautiful new place at 85 Tenth Ave., across from Chelsea Market, blows away foul memories of its pretentious predecessor on the site, Al Coro — which lasted a mere eighteen months. It even made me forget Del Posto, Mario Batali’s Italian palace that was there first for sixteen golden years until it closed in 2021 in the wake of sexual assault allegations against the celebrity chef.
Unlike its pricier precursors, Crane Club has an accessible, a la carte menu that smoothly mixes and matches steakhouse, Italian and modern-American favorites.
“We wanted to appeal to a larger audience,” chef/partner Melissa Rodriguez explained.
But Rodriguez provides continuity with the best of the old places too. She ran Del Posto’s kitchen in its final years and Al Coro’s as well. Her splendid, mostly Italian cooking at the latter was smothered by the house’s goofy shtick — distracting, dinner-theater musical performances on a mezzanine and a bank account-busting, prix-fixe format with no printed menus. (Bombastic waiters announced dishes as if presenting lifetime achievement awards).
The venue’s ownership has also changed twice. Rodriguez and managing partner Jeff Katz are now teamed up with Tao Group, which has its finger on the pulse of public taste.
She chuckled that her “unusual situation” of running her third restaurant in the same space strikes her as “sometimes weird and sometimes brilliant.” (Her popular pizza spot, Mel’s, in the same building closed on Jan. 31 for reasons that remain unclear.)
Undeniably brilliant is the redesign. The previous restaurants dwelled in a voluminous void that felt near-empty even when full.
A new, sleek-but-cozy walled-off bar resembling a luxury train’s dining car cuts the dining room down to a more humane size. Red velvet curtains and drapes lend a supper-club feel beneath the double-height ceiling and take the curse off fascistic, arched columns archways that Katz installed at Al Coro.
The Tao team got rid of the mid-room staircases that suggested an ascent to the gallows. “It made a huge difference,” Rodriguez chuckled.
The room has the sweetest kind of buzz. Women dress to impress, and everyone’s ready to party. There’s lots of laughter and romance without the shrieking common to high-profile, high-ceilinged,160-seat eateries. There’s plenty of energy — but no music, save for a subtle thump of bass — humming through the place, but it’s not too loud.
Rodriguez is right at home in the space that earned her two Michelin stars at unpopular Al Coro just before it closed. Between 50 and 60% of her staff worked with her before at Al Coro or Del Posto.
She made one momentous addition to the kitchen — a twelve-foot long, Mibrasa-brand wood-fired grill made to her specifications in Spain.
Its cherrywood and hickory flames sharpens the flavors of everything from chili-sparked broccoli rabe to steelhead trout to mighty, 50-ounce porterhouse.
“It touches all our meat and fish and most of the menu,” Rodriguez said.
The menu includes the now common raw bar crowned by a “sky-high tower” for $215 and even more expensive caviar items.
But most diners will want to see what Rodriguez can do with her grill. Smaller dishes introduce her mastery of flavor and texture. My favorite appetizer, preserved tomato with marinated feta, roasted garlic and oregano oil, is a $22 winter pleasure.
She marries Einkorn Farro Piccolo — an ancient, tiny grain from Charleston’s celebrated Anson Mills — to marinated mushrooms and smoked butter. Listed as a vegetable side, the soul-satisfying dish costs just $17. For my money, it’s one of the best things on the menu.
Although Rodriguez doesn’t want to call Crane Club a steakhouse, its beef ranks with the best. Bone-in ribeye, dry-aged for 30 days, had crackling char and a deep mineral flavor that’s hard to find these days. Priced at $115, it was easily enough to feed three. (Be warned, as at many places these days, they tend to under-cook steak, so ask for it medium-rare-plus).
Head-on prawns, normally a snore, overcame the cliche thanks to a well-calibrated dash of paprika — and shrimp that actually taste like shrimp.
The short pasta lineup rivals what you’ll find at Marea and new Santi — especially al dente spaghetti di mare with a heady stew of lobster, mussels, shrimp, squid and shrimp, all tinted with saffron, herbs and a breadcrumbs sprinkle ($40).
Pastry chef Georgia Wodder keeps the good times going. A ridiculously irresistible orange blossom cheesecake ($18) has a Belgian-style spiced cookie crust.
Her desserts are the perfect ending to meal in a room that finally has what it always lacked — fun.
