Michael Stember is executive chef and a co-founder of Fletchers, opening soon in Boca Raton. Photo provided
By Jan Norris
Private membership supper clubs and bars are the latest in “eatertainment,” and Boca Raton is getting a new one in Fletchers.
The luxe dining, lounge and membership experience is scheduled for a fall opening in downtown Boca Raton at 133 SE Mizner Blvd.
It’s being billed as a five-star menu dining room that morphs into a high-energy upscale nightclub later at night.
A rendering of the private dining area. Rendering provided
While Fletchers will be open to the public, its Members Club card will give people access to a private area and lounge space with exclusive amenities.
Creating the menu is executive chef and co-founder Michael Stember, who ran track for the United States in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
After gaining international fame for his pop-ups called Sushi Belly Tower, he started a brick and mortar, Ponyboy, in Brooklyn.
Fletchers’ other co-founders are Sam Meitus and Jake Marr, South Florida entrepreneurs. They watched the growth of companies drawing young professionals to the area, and felt Boca Raton was overdue for an experiential upscale restaurant.
Marr wrote in a news release, “We see a demand from discerning diners in Boca who are looking for a sophisticated sanctuary for members to connect, relax, and enjoy bespoke services. Boca Raton is the perfect locale for our first venture, given its vibrant community and appreciation for luxury.”
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Josie’s Ristorante in Boynton Beach is progressing with its move to a stand-alone, two-story building of its own on Federal Highway.
The planned 55,000-square-foot restaurant, about 1.5 miles south of Josie’s current site, will include outside dining and, to the relief of its manager, its own parking lot. A sign is on the new shell of the building.
“The parking now is a nightmare at this place,” said Dante Setticasi, the son of owner Steve Setticasi. Josie’s shares parking with numerous other businesses, including its neighboring restaurant, Prime Catch.
He said the current restaurant rented in the rebuilt plaza at Woolbright Road and Federal was a leftover from the “Kmart parking lot” era.
“A lot of this stuff was retrofitted,” Dante Setticasi said.
The owners are looking forward to a building of their own, from the ground up.
A new pizza oven, new kitchen, bar and dining room will be exciting, he said.
But the staff will come from the old place.
“A lot of the staff we’ve had for a long time,” Setticasi said. “It’s a long-standing crew here. I really don’t know too many restaurants who have kept the same staff for so long. We have had very little turnover.”
Josie’s opened in 1992, and it sold to Steve Setticasi a year later. It gained a large following for its Italian menu.
The addition of James Beard Award-winning chef Mark Militello a decade ago brought a menu makeover and new clientele. He kept recipes simple and built on the classics using fresh, local ingredients and fresh bread.
The new restaurant will grow with at least 50% more seating, Dante Setticasi said.
“It will be substantially larger, and with a bigger bar. I know there are plans for private dining,” he said.
A small market selling breads, pizza and sandwiches will be part of the new build-out, accessible from a separate entrance.
The website lists a late October grand opening, but that depends on construction and permitting, as well as equipment deliveries — all nuances that go into a new restaurant build-out.
“We’re aiming for late fall, early winter opening,” Setticasi said.
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Rivalries, a sports pub with banks of TVs and a video arcade for kids big and little, opened in June in the former Butcher and Bar space on East Ocean Avenue in Boynton Beach.
The pub menu touts “oil-free” foods from an air fryer — including crispy chicken wings — and healthier versions of pub food in general. A vegetarian option, Buffalo cauliflower appetizer, is listed among others. They cover most of the sports bar must-haves: burgers, nachos, pressed paninis.
These are served in loud, energy-spiked rooms where TVs can show every game, match and race available. Tables have bar games to keep diners amused.
Live music is scheduled, and happy hours are 3-6 p.m. daily, with beer and wine deals. Special events are planned; patrons can sign up for alerts online.
Rivalries, 510 E. Ocean Ave., Boynton Beach. Phone 561-345-1834; rivalriessportspub.com
In brief
Still open: Hurricane Alley Raw Bar and Restaurant, which plans to relocate from its Ocean Avenue home in Boynton Beach, isn’t moving yet.
Manager Tiara Heal wanted to let patrons know the Boynton fixture is open and going strong at the same location, at least for a few more months.
The move, she said, “is dependent on so many variables — construction, a lot of other variables.”
The casual seafood spot will move across the street from Bud’s Chicken on Boynton Beach Boulevard at some point as part of the downtown revitalization plan that involves a live-work space, The Pierce.
It will become a two-story restaurant with patio and balcony seating. Early plans called for it to open around 2027.
Closed: Pigsty BBQ on Boynton Beach Boulevard. Road construction that impeded customers from getting into the plaza was cited as the reason for the closure.
Coming soon: Another outlet for Le Petit Pain, the wholesale French bakery based in Lantana, is set to open on East Ocean Avenue in Boynton Beach. A coming-soon sign is on the window at 618 Ocean Ave. The bakery has numerous takeout and pickup shops from Vero Beach to the Keys, including one at 410 Boynton Beach Blvd. They also sell at all the local green markets in season.
Jan Norris is a food writer who can be reached at nativefla@gmail.com.
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