Luxury crab—especially large, live Japanese snow crab and Norwegian red king crab—has become the season’s status ingredient on high‑end US menus, eclipsing traditional luxury items like caviar, truffles, wagyu, and lobster that have drifted into fast food and mass-market dishes. Chefs prize crab for its delicate meat and its rich roe and tomalley, and restaurants are showcasing premium specimens on $800‑plus tasting menus, such as the $888 crab course at Sushidokoro Mekumi in New York. The shift underscores how crab has retained mystique and exclusivity even as other prestige foods have been democratized and commodified.