Casa Cruz — a flashy new restaurant and the sister-location of a London hotspot which boasts Kate Moss and Victoria Beckham amongst its celebrity patrons — opened its doors earlier this month in a Beaux-Arts mansion at 36 East 61st Street, between Park and Madison avenues.
According to the restaurant’s Instagram page, the official opening was September 12, but The New York Times reports a VIP preview event with 300 invite-only guests took place on Friday, September 9. These guests included actress Sienna Miller, English socialite and fashion designer Daphne Guinness, Russian businesswoman and art collector Dasha Zhukova, and several adult offspring of the rich and famous.
Spokeswoman Kate Bartle said the restaurant is backed by 99 investors, each paying between $250,000 to $500,000 to join. These members are able to use the fourth floor and rooftop terrace, both closed to the general public. The restaurant and the lounges on the second and third floors are by reservation only.
Unsurprisingly, this lavish display of wealth has drawn quite the backlash, with many complaining that New York City doesn’t need any more playgrounds for rich people.
The Chilean-born Cruz opened a pop-up location in Tribeca in 2016, and the positive reception led him to search for a permanent home in NYC. He is consistently quoted as saying he wants the new restaurant to be “fun and transportive,” and a place that makes you feel like “you’re leaving New York behind.”
The 66-seat location — which Vogue says “is about to be New York’s Most Glamorous Restaurant” — is dotted with paintings by Andy Warhol and Keith Haring and filled with sounds of light jazz and beautiful interiors of “green velvet, gilded metals, and curved Brazilian cherry woods.”
Despite the celebrity backing and rich investors, the pasta and seafood oriented menu itself is surprisingly consistent with New York prices, with the most expensive dinner item being a $65 grilled veal chop.
To book a table, email reservations@casacruznyc.com.
Interesting article. But when you see the people struggling to make ends meet, spending a quarter to a half a million dollars to sit on a rooftop that doesn’t belong to you seems a bit obscene and certainly exclusionary.
Can I think of a better use of one’s money? You bet!
https://culinaryagents.com/entities/329277-Casa-Cruz-New-York they pay their employees $10 bucks an hour. deport them