Melissa Rodriguez — the chef who led the two-Michelin-starred Al Coro and, before that, ran Del Posto, becoming the first woman to helm a four-star New York Times restaurant — returns to 85 Tenth Avenue, the former Nabisco factory where she made her name, this time partnered with restaurateur Jeff Katz and Tao Group Hospitality. Crane Club is her first turn beyond strictly French and Italian cooking, organized around a custom 12-foot Mibrasa grill she designed herself: charred lobster salad, wood-smoked clams, a Parmigiano-Reggiano-aged New York strip, plus the pastas that built her reputation and a roving raw-bar cart. The room reads Art Deco and theatrical — double-height ceilings, red velvet, gold-leafed walls, a red marble bar. For a West Chelsea steakhouse where a serious kitchen meets a Tao-scale spectacle.
