Crane Club

Crane Club is located across the street from Chelsea Market. It’s being led by executive chef Melissa Rodriguez, who formerly oversaw Al Coro, which earned 2 Michelin stars at one point. This restaurant is under the Tao Hospitality Group, which oversees some upscale trendy hot spots like Hakkasan, Lava, and TAO Asian Bistro. We were able to make a reservation for the dining room very easily for 5:30 PM on a Friday night. This restaurant’s food was meant to be unapologetically fancy.

Ambiance & Service

The interior had a mixture of booths and tables. The 2-seater square tables were aligned facing the windows, which was nice. There was plenty of room for dishes, and that seems to be very intentional. There is a lot of drapes all over the place with dimly lit incandescent lights and candles. The seats themselves seem to be wrapped in velvet, so they are fairly comfortable.

The crowd was a mixture of pretentious and celebratory folks, especially since it’s located in the heart of Chelsea.

The service was very timely, and at some points, it felt like they were trying to rush us through all the courses. The busboys came around frequently asking if we’re done with something, despite my partner actively chewing and moving utensils. Our server did make some great recommendations and helped us not over order, so that we can have room for dessert.

Food

The glass of Syrah from Crozes-Hermitage ($28) came from Alain Graillot, France, 2022. This was a medium body Syrah with a lot of texture, spice, smoke, and red fruits. The flavors danced around in your mouth, and it finished dry and smooth. The smell was velvety with a bit of that barrel smell. This is the second wine I had from the Crozes-Hermitage appellation, and I’ve enjoyed it very much.

The complimentary bread came with 4 things: sun-dried tomato focaccia bread, some dense bread that I forgot what it was, sourdough slices, and a bread basket made of water crackers. On the side, they gave some sort of onion dip and very delicious butter. The onion dip reminded me of the Ruffles onion seasoning dip, and the butter was from (I believe) France. The crackers dipped with the onion dip were delectable, and the breads were delicious with the butter.

The Cherrystone Clams ($29) came with 3 oven-baked clams (+$10 for one extra clam) with pickled pepper, garlic bread crust, and spicy pepper butter. The clams were good, but they were small. And $10 for each clam was probably robbery, but it was a night to decompress. I do not think the price really justifies what we were served here unfortunately.

The 36 oz Iberian Duroc Tomahawk Pork Chop ($79) came with porcini, tellicherry, and smoked chili. It was cut in half, and was perfectly cooked. The chop was quite large, and I was surprised by how little meat there was compared to other places. The ribs were cooked thoroughly through, and they had some meat on them if you were desiring to get your hands dirty a bit. The core meat was pretty tasty, though I felt the seasoning was a bit excessive as it became too salty in some parts. Nonetheless, I like this way of cooking pork chops, where they are charred on the edges. It did come with roasted garlic, and the seasoning itself was more dry than wet.

The Spaghetti ($40) came with frutti di mare, saffron, mussels, lobster, squid, shrimp, and soft herbs. We asked for the lobster to be on the side. The spaghetti was cooked perfectly al dente, and the sauce was very delicious. It had olive oil, lemon, saffron, and plenty of seasoning in it. The seafood was all very fresh, pungent, and tasty.

The Whole Prawns ($39) came with 5 pieces with heads drenched in garlic butter, tomato, and smoked paprika. The heads were not edible, but you can suck the guts out of the shell. The prawn meat definitely shrunk quite a bit, but it was pretty decent. It’s a bit expensive for what I thought this was going to be, but the flavors were all there.

The Strawberry Crumble ($18) came with malt custard, fresh macerated strawberries, warm croissant crumble, farro streusal, and rhubarb sorbet. Because we had a pretty heavy meal, I opted for a lighter, crisp, and summer-centric dessert. I love rhubarb as a whole, and this was no exception. The rhubarb sorbet and chunks were tart, but it matched well with the sweetness of the strawberries. The croissant crumble gave it a nice vessel and soaked some of the juice and custard together. There was a lot going right in this deconstructed dessert.

Overall Impression

The Crane Club, surprisingly, was a pretty good restaurant despite its somewhat pretentious vibe. It’s quite pricey, but it’s a fantastic restaurant to celebrate or for a night out. The food was all reasonably good, and the wine choices were very appealing.

Yelp Jabs

My experience here was not enjoyable. Whatever you do - Do NOT book the bar room. The bar room was similar to a private dining room and was not what I was expecting based off socials… I booked this place for the ambiance and what I’ve seen on socials. Not sure if I’ll give it another shot.

This Yelper got conned by social media, which is a bit humorous. Usually I’ll look at pictures of the dining areas to try to anticipate what I’ll be getting. I don’t think I’d ever book anything purely off of (dishonest) socials. Hopefully this Yelper learned their lesson.

Everything is so sleek and beautiful! I was even provided a chair for my purse. (amazing touch btw) … This restaurant needs to become a NYC staple. Definitely an awesome place to take your friends and impress them!

The atmosphere definitely has a mix of clubby and sleek vibes. It seems for some patrons, the servers will go above and beyond, but for others not so much. It really is inconsistent since it’s a large space. The restaurant when we left was decently full, but you can tell the clientele was that “Chelsea” crowd with people dressed up and probably heading to a Meatpacking club right after.

Revisions

1. May 30, 2025 - Initial revision.