Harrison Ginsberg, the drinks maven who made the destination Fidi bar with a spectacular view, Overstory — one of the World’s 50 Best Bars — will soon lead the bar at Crane Club: the Chelsea restaurant with chef Melissa Rodriguez and Jeff Katz at the helm
in partnership with Tao Group Hospitality. Ginsberg will also oversee the soon-to-open ultra-luxe lounge called Bar CC that will take over the shuttered pizzeria space, Mel’s, scheduled to debut in September at 85 Tenth Avenue, between West 15th and 16th streets.
Crane Club already attracts a notable crowd: During the week of the World Cup in mid-July, visitors included Mick Jagger, Madonna, Leonardo DiCaprio, Adrien Brody, LeBron James, and Jay-Z, a source confirmed. Ginsberg overseeing the bar raises the potential for Bar CC to compete as a World’s 50 Best selection.
Before Bar CC, Ginsberg joined the 70 Pine Street team in 2018 and helped open what’s now Kent Hospitality Group’s ground-floor restaurant Crown Shy, upstairs fine dining Saga, and Overstory.
“It’s difficult to put into words what these years have meant to me,” Ginsberg wrote in an Instagram post announcing his departure on August 3. But “the awards and accomplishments are only part of the story.”
Ginsberg also paid tribute to James Kent, who died of a heart attack in June 2024 at age 45. “Chef James always reminded us to celebrate the wins,” he wrote. “So as I close this chapter, that is exactly what I want to do.”
At Bar CC, Ginsberg will develop an ambitious cocktail menu. Crane Club wine director Abe Zarate will oversee a list of more than 1,000 bottles, with a substantial selection available by the glass. Rodriguez and her team are planning a short food menu built around caviar, live-fire cooking, and small dishes.
Bar CC will be divided into three intimate rooms, including a private dining room surrounded by wine. Tao Group design executive Susan Nugraha and Laseu Studio— the same team responsible for the look at Crane Club — are outfitting the bar with velvet walls, custom carpeting, and walnut millwork, along with furniture and lighting.
Noah Tepperberg is the co-CEO of Tao Group, which steers over 20 New York properties, as well as Tao and Hakkasan restaurants worldwide. The group recently rolled out Peak with Priceless and the new Avenue Sky Lounge in Hudson Yards. He confirmed that Tao was purchased by Mohari Hospitality in 2023, a high-end investment firm owned by billionaire Mark Scheinberg. Mohari owns properties like Four Seasons in Madrid and the Waldorf Astoria in Miami. The new ownership’s prioritizing luxury allowed for Tao, Katz, and Rodriguez to join forces.
Rodriguez and Katz opened Mel’s in March 2022 and closed in January 2025. At the time, the team said it was looking for another location for the restaurant. Before Mel’s, the space had been the John Dory with partners April Bloomfield, Ken Friedman, and Mario Batali (prior to thescandals that shuttered their restaurants) and, later, private dining for Del Posto, where Rodriguez and Katz worked for more than a decade.
Crane Club occupies the former Del Posto dining room, which subsequently housed the short-lived, two-Michelin-starred Al Coro.
