There’s a new rhythm to dining in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, and it’s emanating from a bold revival at 85 Tenth Avenue. Crane Club, a restaurant helmed by celebrated chef Melissa Rodriguez, who has taken her rightful place as one of New York’s most quietly influential culinary voices. Equal parts refined and seductive, Crane Club is not just a reinvention of a storied address, but a confident new chapter in the city’s luxury dining scene.
Having previously led the kitchens at Michelin-starred Del Posto and the short-lived Al Coro, Rodriguez is now rewriting the narrative in a space she knows intimately. With Tao Group backing and a pivot toward accessibility and warmth, Crane Club represents a refined yet relaxed hospitality concept designed to entice discerning palates.
Stepping inside Crane Club is like slipping into an old Hollywood dreamscape. The room hums with glamour, yet avoids the stiffness often found in legacy fine dining. Sweeping arched ceilings meet plush velvet booths in a palette of deep reds and amber light. Sculptural chandeliers cast a warm glow over polished parquet floors and gracefully dressed tables. Each corner feels considered and art-forward without shouting for attention.
The layout with curved booths and mid-century-style table lamps gives the space the kind of low-lit intimacy that invites both business deals and whispered romances. Paired with a soundtrack that leans into jazz and classic soul, the atmosphere is transportive without ever losing its New York edge.
While Crane Club has already attracted a slate of notable guests, most recently hosting a Met Gala afterparty with co-chair Pharrell, the heart of the experience is squarely on the plate. Over the past few weeks, Rodriguez has shifted the menu toward the season’s bounty, leaning into produce-forward plates and techniques that showcase restraint, balance, and a precise understanding of texture and fire.
A few highlights from the menu include:
- Spring Salad: A refreshing ode to the market with asparagus, snap peas, pecorino, and lemon vinaigrette.
- Golden Beets: Served with creamy labne, pistachio dukkah, mint, and dill—equal parts earthy and bright.
- Cappellacci: Delicately filled with sheep’s milk ricotta and paired with a vibrant fava bean pesto.
- Trumpet Mushrooms: Deeply umami with black garlic, marjoram, and purple daikon—an elegant play of color and earthiness.
- Wood-Fired Chicken: A technical marvel, deboned (save for the wings) and presented whole with salsa macha, oregano, sesame, and cilantro. The skin? Perfection.
Rodriguez’s had a 12-foot Mibrasa wood-fired grill custom built and imported from Spain and uses it to infuse much of the menu with an understated smokiness. Whether you’re indulging in the 50-ounce porterhouse or the smoky steelhead trout, the grill’s presence is felt without overpowering the compositions.
Pastry chef Georgia Wodder has curated a dessert menu that blends the classic with invention. Her latest creations include a Carrot Cake with cream cheese, pecan candy, graham cracker, and pineapple spuma and a Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp with malt custard, monkey bread, and rhubarb sorbet.
Each dish provides a lush yet elegant finale to a meal that never loses sight of flavor and craft.
At a time when much of New York’s dining scene teeters between hyper-exclusivity and performative casualness, Crane Club strikes the perfect balance. Rodriguez, with her signature quiet confidence, has built something enduring, a restaurant that feels as luxurious as it does personal.
