The final space at Restaurant Row, the real estate development in Boca Raton by PEBB Enterprises, has been successfully leased. Pushkar Marathe, a well-known chef and restaurateur, will expand his Stage Kitchen & Bar concept to the development. Stage Kitchen & Bar, which provides a small-plate experience inspired by diverse culinary influences worldwide, has leased 5,200 square feet at Restaurant Row. It is expected to open its doors to customers by the end of 2024. Pronounced “staahj,” “Stage” refers to the title given to culinary interns who gain experience in different kitchens across the globe. Stage Kitchen & Bar already has an existing location in Palm Beach Gardens. It jjoins Fabio Trabocchi’s Fiolina Pasta House, Pubbelly Sushi and El Camino as Restaurant Row’s tenants. Fiolina and El Camino opened in late 2023, and Pubbelly is scheduled to open this summer.
“We are thrilled to finalize our lease with Chef Pushkar Marathe’s Stage Kitchen & Bar concept to round out the incredible roster at Restaurant Row,” Ian Weiner says, president and CEO of PEBB Enterprises, a private equity firm based in Boca Raton specializing in acquiring and developing commercial open-air retail and suburban office properties. “We accomplished our mission to elevate the quality of dining options in the city we call home. The end result is four distinct and complementary concepts with passionate followings.”
Marathe was born in Nagpur, India, and his culinary roots are grounded in the rich flavors of his homeland. When he was 20 years old, he started his culinary training in Switzerland and embarked on a decades-long journey to explore international cuisine. Throughout his travels, Marathe acquired knowledge and inspiration from the far east of India to the western edge of California.
In 2020, Stage Kitchen & Bar was opened in Palm Beach Gardens by Marathe and his partner, Andy Dugard. The restaurant received recognition from USA Today’s Best Restaurants of 2024. Additionally, Marathe was nominated as a semifinalist for “Best Chef: South” by the James Beard Foundation in 2023.
“Restaurant Row is the ideal home for Stage Kitchen & Bar 2.0,” Marathe says. “We have passed on many opportunities to expand, but we knew this one would be great based on timing and indicators from our patrons to expand south. Boca is a great market with a great mix of demographics. It checked all the boxes to be the next Stage Kitchen & Bar.”
At Stage Kitchen & Bar, Chef Marathe is known for defining New American cuisine by creating innovative dishes that blend tradition with fresh and locally sourced ingredients, resulting in vibrant and flavorful culinary experiences. In addition to the exceptional food, the bar program is carefully curated with meticulous attention to detail to elevate the overall dining experience, focusing on expertly crafted cocktails and a thoughtfully selected wine list.
Marathe says the Restaurant Row location “will have the beautiful fingerprint of our designer, Anna Woodman, and our flavor-forward, globally influenced cuisine. For starters, Restaurant Row is a bigger space, and we will have a bigger bar and will offer an extensive beverage program. The kitchen’s live wood-burning oven and the brick oven will influence our menu with many items coming out of the wood fire—seafood, vegetarian dishes, creative naans and flatbreads from the brick oven.”
Chris Haass of Cohen Commercial represented Stage Kitchen & Bar during the lease agreement process. Adjacent to the Town Center at Boca Raton, Restaurant Row is a 22,500-square-foot ground-up development. The project is only a few minutes away from over 2.5 million square feet of office space and four hotels. It is also located directly at the base of the 145,000-square-foot Two Town Center office building.
