奢华食材出现「下沉」：鱼子酱进鸡块、松露进超市与连锁餐点、和牛进汉堡；但螃蟹反而更像新一代奢侈品。供应受政治与生态冲击，帝王蟹批发已到每磅 70–85 美元；零售端单只 10 磅挪威红帝王蟹到府可超过 1,200 美元。供应商预期 5 年内批发价可能突破每磅 100 美元。
纽约高端餐饮把螃蟹做成定价锚点：Mekumi 推出每位 888 美元的蟹主题 omakase（不含酒），主角公雪蟹 2 天从日本运到纽约，单只批发最高约 675 美元；每晚 8 位客人需 3 只，套餐 18–20 道，12 月全满、1 月尚有名额。更稀有的「幻之蟹」Taiza gani 因仅 5 艘船可捕，Muku 连两晚供应的每位 1,295 美元菜单迅速售罄。Yamada 剥取 1 只 2 磅毛蟹蟹肉需约 45 分钟，出现在 295 美元、10 道的冬季菜单中。
全美各地把「螃蟹溢价」推到不同场景：洛杉矶 Kinkan 每周 2 次、11 道 250 美元；旧金山 Angler 有 100 美元的隐藏蟹饭。Semma 建议预订两人份 145 美元、重 1–1.5 磅的整蟹；芝加哥 Nadu 的蟹料理有 135/185 美元两种规格，约每周 15 位客人点。纽约 Octo 的 8 磅活帝王蟹近例为 850 美元、可供 5–6 人；拉斯维加斯 Carbone Riviera 帝王蟹每磅 175–200 美元，大只总价可超过 2,000 美元。
Luxury ingredients are “mainstreaming” (caviar on nuggets, truffle in supermarket items, wagyu in burgers), yet crab is becoming the new high-status marker. Supply hit by political and ecological disruption has pushed king crab to $70–$85 per pound wholesale; a single live 10‑pound Norwegian red king crab can cost consumers $1,200+ delivered. A top supplier expects wholesale to exceed $100 per pound within five years.
New York fine dining uses crab as a pricing anchor. Mekumi offers an $888-per-person crab omakase (excluding drinks) for a few winter weeks; its male snow crab reaches about $675 each wholesale and arrives from Japan in two days—three crabs per night for eight diners—across 18–20 courses. December is sold out, January remains. Ultra-rare Taiza “phantom crab” (only five boats allowed) drove Muku’s $1,295 menus for two nights to sell out fast. At Yamada, extracting meat from a 2‑pound crab can take 45 minutes, within a $295, 10-course menu.
Across the US, crab premiums show up in set menus and signature dishes: Kinkan in Los Angeles runs an 11-course $250 dinner twice weekly; Angler in San Francisco has a $100 off-menu crab rice. Semma’s preorder is $145 for two featuring a 1–1.5‑pound crab; Chicago’s Nadu offers $135/$185 sizes with about 15 orders per week. Octo served an 8‑pound live king crab for $850 (feeds 5–6), while Las Vegas’s Carbone Riviera prices king crab at $175–$200 per pound, making large orders $2,000+.