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To Pushkar Marathe, Stage is more than the name of his restaurant.
He lives by it.
In the culinary world, stage is a French term for an internship in a kitchen. It’s a chance to step into someone else’s world, learn something new, and add another skill to your own. Marathe turned that idea into the foundation of Stage Kitchen & Bar in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
“I love to learn,” Marathe says. “And hence we named the restaurant Stage because you are learning; inspiring each other every day.”
His own stage has taken him from military bases across India to kitchens in Switzerland, Dubai, Qatar, the Cayman Islands, California and the Bahamas. Every stop brought a new perspective, technique or flavor, shaping the chef he would become.
In his restaurant, those influences come together without being confined to a single culinary identity. Stage Kitchen & Bar was named one of USA Today’s 2024 Restaurants of the Year as well as earned recognition from the Michelin Guide and James Beard Foundation. But accolades reflect what Marathe has been building all along: a place where food, culture and curiosity have room to meet.
Now that work has earned Marathe the 2026 Certified Angus Beef Chef of the Year
Flavor First
Stage Kitchen & Bar doesn’t fit neatly into one culinary category, and that is exactly the point.
“You have your ethnicity, but you don’t cook with ethnicity,” he says. “You cook a lot of different cuisines here.”
Marathe’s Indian heritage remains part of the food, but so do the lessons gathered from years of travel and working alongside people from different cultures. He applies that same curiosity to the ingredients themselves, including beef. His experience in steakhouse kitchens taught him to appreciate the product while encouraging him to look beyond the cuts diners already know.
The result is what he calls “flavor-forward” cuisine, where the dish becomes first and culinary boundaries come second.
“There’s no borders to this stage,” he says.
Tenderloin and ribeye have their place, but Marathe also works with Certified Angus Beef ® cuts such as the sirloin flap, flat iron, and eye of round. Each one gives him another opportunity to apply technique and bring something distinctive to the plate.
“It’s not a one fix for everything,” he stated. “I think the ribeye is great, but a lot of times a restaurant uses it because you don’t have much to do with it. We like to do different things, treat it differently, because that’s where we can showcase our skills.”
That curiosity also led Marathe to The Culinary Center in Wooster, Ohio, where he explored underutilized cuts and gained a deeper understanding of the farmers and ranchers who care about the beef they raise. The experience also strengthened his connection to the Certified Angus Beef ® brand and the people behind it.
“It’s about the partnership, the quality and consistency the brand brings,” he says
Always Another Stage
The pursuit of knowledge doesn’t end for Marathe. At Stage, it has become part of the culture.
Staff training is built into the daily rhythm. Pre-meal meetings give the team a chance to talk through dishes, ingredients and service, while vendors and partners, including Certified Angus Beef ® team members, spend time educating staff about the products they serve and the stories behind them.
Marathe’s longtime business partner, Andrew Dugard sees the standard play out in the kitchen every day.
“If the dish is not a 10, it does not leave the kitchen,” Dugard says. “But when something goes wrong, Marathe does not simply point out the mistake. He stays with that team member and works through it.”
The goal isn’t perfection for perfection’s sake. It’s making the next dish better, strengthening the next service and helping the people around him become better at what they do.
Six years after opening Stage, Marathe and Dugard have grown the business into Flavor Builders Hospitality, with three additional South Florida concepts: Ela Curry & Cocktails, Mango Mercado, and most recently, Boca Brasserie. Each offers a different identity to the group, from Indian cuisine at Ela to the market-inspired Mango Mercado and the neighborhood-focused Boca Brasserie.
Recognition may mark the milestones, but it isn’t what keeps him moving. He keeps moving because there is always something more to learn.
That may be the truest meaning of Stage. A kitchen is never a finished place. There is always another perspective to discover, another skill to sharpen, and another idea waiting to take shape.
For a chef whose career has crossed continents and cuisines, the next stage has never needed a map. He has moved through the world with curiosity and respect, carrying each lesson forward.
And always, finding another stage.
