Crane Club’s Dramatic Dining Room Is Tailored to Perfection

For longtime Del Posto patrons accustomed to swanky white-tablecloth dining, the partnership came as somewhat of a surprise. Tao essentially wrote the rulebook for the oontz-oontz style of “clubstaurant” that sprouted in Midtown Manhattan, Singapore, and Las Vegas back in the early aughts. But the group was recently acquired by Mark Scheinberg’s luxury-driven Mohari Hospitality, whose portfolio includes Madrid’s Four Seasons and the Waldorf Astoria in Miami. The group has yet to oversee a Michelin-starred restaurant Stateside, so teaming up with Chef Rodriguez and Katz to foray into fine dining made perfect sense.

The restaurant they created, Crane Club, is designed to impress—and considering its bold-faced stakeholders and one of Manhattan’s most coveted culinary addresses, expectations are high. Fortunately, every element of the guest experience has been tailored to perfection, from the exceptional service—Chef Rodriguez kept Al Coro’s core team—to the theatrical interior devised by Laseu Studio with Tao Group’s in-house designers. Visitors enter a moody vestibule that completely obscures the dining room; they’re whisked past a sculptural mirror featuring interlocking cranes and through a low-ceilinged side bar to the back, where mystery builds until the monumental double-height dining room finally reveals itself. “We intentionally lowered the ceiling of the bar area so the drama of entering the dining room was enhanced,” says Susan Nugraha, who oversees Tao’s design team. “Theatricality is in our DNA.” 

Such grand spaces can easily overwhelm, but the designers tempered Crane Club’s more daring gestures with nods to classic New York City elegance. Burgundy velvet drapes cosset floor-to-ceiling windows and the structure’s stately Art Deco arches, framing a quadrant of custom chandeliers as dazzling centerpieces that still manage to set an intimate, human scale. Those same velvets add depth to the curved banquettes and plush dining chairs. “We were all drawn to the paprika color,” says Natalia Coll and Santiago Hinojos, who founded Laseu Studio after meeting at Yabu Pushelberg. “It felt bold and sensual yet timeless, giving the space a sense of permanence.” Gilded accents and herringbone floors balance the richness. Three private dining rooms line the mezzanine; true to theme, one features murals of pink cranes.

Launching Crane Club afforded Chef Rodriguez the freedom to explore an entirely new type of cuisine within familiar walls. Del Posto and Al Coro both excelled in house-made pastas, but Crane Club sees the chef adventurously intermingle French flavors informed by a Mibrasa wood-fired grill she custom designed and built in Spain. “Doing something outside of your comfort zone is always exciting and invigorating,” Rodriguez tells Galerie about the menu, which leans into wood-fired vegetables and live-fire cooking. “It’s made me reassess how I approach dishes and navigate flavor profiles,” she continues. “Cooking with the woodfire just brings a different aspect of flavor and technique.” 

Entrées skew experimental without sacrificing the care and finesse synonymous with Del Posto and Al Coro. The essence of parmesan is seared into the delectable month-aged strip steak, infusing its crust with torrents of umami. Raw bar carts rove the dining room, flaunting splendors of illuminated shrimp cocktail, freshly shucked oysters, and razor clams on ice. Don’t overlook the pastas—they earned Chef Rodriguez her two Michelin stars. The saffron-laced spaghettoni is an understated highlight, served with a bounty of mussels, shrimp, lobster, and calamari cooked to tender perfection. Even the complimentary bread impresses, ranging from focaccia with vodka sauce to cacio e pepe babka served in a giant cracker bowl.

Discerning oenophiles will have a field day with the 1,000-bottle wine selection, complementing a bar program by longtime Katz collaborator Chris Lemperle of Crown Shy and Overstory fame. He adds contemporary twists to forgotten classics—the Cavalier (rye whiskey, Irish whiskey, calvados, vermouth, celery) riffs on the 1914 Manhattan—but devises ample non-alcoholic options for the sober-curious. Sip a nightcap back at the bar, which practically glows in the downlight thanks to luscious slabs of rosso levanto marble. 

In a city teeming with big-ticket dining rooms clamoring for your attention, Crane Club sates one’s appetite for a contemporary “clubstaurant”—but think member’s club, not dance floor. (A member’s club is opening there at a later date.) It turns out Tao’s bravado harmonizes well with the foundation of elegant grandeur laid by Crane Club’s predecessors. And two months in, Chef Rodriguez is along for the ride: “There’s always something new to learn.” 

Below, see more images of the restaurant.