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PEBB Enterprises, the entrepreneurial private real estate investment company, successfully leased the final space at its Restaurant Row development in PEBB’s home base of Boca Raton. Renowned chef and restaurateur Pushkar Marathe will expand his Stage Kitchen & Bar concept to Restaurant Row.

Pronounced “staahj,” in a nod to the title given to culinary interns who gain experience in different kitchens across the globe, Stage Kitchen & Bar leased 5,200 square feet at Restaurant Row. It expects to open to customers by the end of 2024. The New American restaurant, which provides an integrated, small-plates experience inspired by diverse culinary influences from around the world, has an existing location in Palm Beach Gardens.

Stage Kitchen & Bar joins 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,” PEBB Enterprises President and CEO Ian Weiner said. “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.”

Born in Nagpur, India, Marathe’s culinary roots originate in the rich flavors of his homeland. At 20, he began his culinary training in Switzerland before embarking on a decades-long exploration of international cuisine. Marathe gathered knowledge and inspiration from the far east of India to the western edge of California.

In 2020, Marathe and partner Andy Dugard opened Stage Kitchen & Bar in Palm Beach Gardens. The restaurant was recognized by USA Today’s Best Restaurants of 2024. In 2023, Marathe was nominated “Best Chef: South” semifinalist by the James Beard Foundation.

“Restaurant Row is the ideal home for Stage Kitchen & Bar 2.0,” Marathe said. “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,” he said. “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 defines New American cuisine with innovative dishes that are interwoven with tradition, utilizing fresh and often local ingredients that come together in vital, new, and flavorful ways. The cocktail and wine offerings are meticulously developed to enhance the dining experience.

The Restaurant Row location “will have the beautiful fingerprint of our designer, Anna Woodman, and our flavor-forward, globally influenced cuisine,” Marathe said. “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 the tenant in the lease.

A 22,500-square-foot ground-up development, Restaurant Row is adjacent to Town Center at Boca Raton. The project is also just minutes away from more than 2.5 million square feet of office space and four hotels. It is also directly at the base of the 145,000-square-foot Two Town Center office building.

Restaurant Row has easy access to I-95, which gives tenants the ability to service customers from West Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale.