The small plates restaurant that energized the North County dining scene with its award-winning food and atmosphere is opening its second location in Boca Raton. Stage Kitchen & Bar, which was recently listed as one of USA Today's Best Restaurants of 2024, is scheduled to debut on Boca's Restaurant Row by the end of 2024, co-owner and chef Pushkar Marathe told the Post.
The complex's owner, PEBB Enterprises, confirmed the news in a press release. Stage Boca will fill Restaurant Row with tenants, taking over a 5,200-square-foot space where chef and “Hell's Kitchen” alum Ralph Pagano had planned to open a Lebanese-style restaurant called Shabibi.
On Restaurant Row, Stage joins Fiolina Pasta House (an Italian restaurant by Michelin-starred and James Beard Award-winning chef Fabio Trabocchi), El Camino Mexican restaurant, and the soon-to-open Pubbelly Sushi .
While Malate's global cuisine often pays homage to the flavors of his native India, he says customers can expect “a new version of the stage with more space, a bigger bar and a more evolved menu.”
“The menu will be diverse. We'll have an open wood-fired pizza oven, and we'll be adding international flatbreads to the menu,” he said, winning a James Beard Award in 2023 for his work at the Palm Beach Gardens Stage Kitchen. said Marathe, who earned semi-finalist honors. . He says he's looking forward to bringing the flavors of Stage to an increasingly diverse city.
Marathe and restaurant partner Andy Dugard opened the original Stage in February 2020, just days before the restaurant's dining room was temporarily closed due to COVID-19. However, the concept quickly gained a local following and became so popular that a sister restaurant for classic Indian cuisine, Ella Curry Kitchen (later renamed Ella Curry & Cocktails), later opened in north Palm Beach Gardens. .
Malate said Restaurant Partners also has a lease for a Stage location in downtown Delray Beach, but that project has stalled.
Stage details:A chef's dream restaurant debuts in Palm Beach Gardens
What do you eat on stage?
While Stage's “more evolved” menu leans heavily toward modern American cuisine, Marathe's Indian inspiration serves as a backbeat.
◾ Appetizers include warm homemade naan (garlic, black truffle, spicy cheese or plain), Malate's brûlée chicken liver pate seasoned with cardamom, green ginger and fenugreek, and Stage's smoked local fish dip. I'm in South Florida.
◾ Try the fish. The catch of the day is served in a Bengali sauce with shishito and potato foam.
◾ Don't miss Stage's popular Indian Butter Chicken. Served with Malvani-style coconut curry and lime, He Marathe's spiced fried chicken is a delicious bite.
◾ Vegetables will also be on stage. The restaurant offers vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options. Grilled delicata squash with herbed tahini.
The name Stage (pronounced “starge”) not only refers to the culinary stage, but also a nod to the stagiaire, the unpaid apprentice chefs who work in a classic kitchen.
Stage Kitchen Boca
◾ Expected to open by the end of 2024 at 5355 Town Center Rd. as part of Boca Raton's Restaurant Row complex.
◾ To learn more about the Stage concept and menu, visit StagePGA.com.
Liz Balmaceda is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network. She covers local food and dining beats. Follow her on Instagram and post on her Food Facebook. She can be reached by email at lbalmaseda@pbpost.com.
