A news release announcing the push back of the closing date of Craft contains some additional details on the concept that will replace the W Hotel restaurant. The bar program at the new Cook Hall will be run by Belinda Chang, who won a James Beard award while working as a wine director at Modern, a fine dining restaurant in the Modern Museum of Art in New York.
If you're tired of the bottle service that pairs $300 bottles of vodka with reconstituted orange and cranberry juice, for you Chang plans on serving a signature Cook Hall cocktail kit. The kit can be ordered for as few as two guests and as many as 10, and will include your choice of booze with garnishes and mixers and a recipe card so you can shake your own craft cocktails.
I'm left to wonder if this will appeal to the fedora and waxed mustache set, and if customers will be allowed to bring their own blow torches for rosemary scorching.
The menu is still billed as a gastropub concept featuring sharable plates, but the news release neglects to say who will be doing the cooking. While Tim Bevins is still working at Craft, I have a hard time seeing him preparing the radish crostini, duck tacos and "Ricco's meatballs" detailed in the announcement.
The closure of Craft has been pushed out to mid-September, and November 1 is still the target opening date for Cook Hall. Bevins has proven himself an adept cook, earning glowing reviews during his tenure at Craft. I wonder where the chef will land?
