Why is Tom Colicchio closing Craft?

Tom Colicchio will close Craft in New York

Tom Colicchio has announced that he will close Craft, his flagship restaurant, after 25 years. The chef tied the decision to how different the New York restaurant experience has become in recent years—especially for the clientele—and said operating a restaurant in that environment has changed.

The key point for diners is that this is not described as a short-term pause or a temporary renovation. It’s framed as an end to a long-running chapter: Craft has operated for a quarter-century, and the plan is to close following the announcement.

For the local food community, the closing matters because Craft is positioned as Colicchio’s flagship, meaning it has likely played a significant role in shaping his brand and in drawing attention to his approach to ingredients and technique over time. Flagship closings can also ripple through the dining scene—staffing, supplier relationships, and how regulars experience the chef’s next moves.

For customers, the practical takeaway is to look for closure timing and any final service announcements (not included in the snippet you provided). In general, when a restaurant like this is set to shut down, diners often rush to visit before it ends, and last-chance reservations become more difficult.

If you’re trying to plan around the closure, the details that matter most—final dates, last seating times, and whether Craft will pivot to a different concept—aren’t present in the snippet here, so you’d need the full article for specifics.