Miami Beach-based operator also makes plans to expand in Mexico
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Pubbelly Restaurant Group will launch a new concept, Food Republic, on the Norwegian Escape, a Norwegian Cruise Line ship that will begin sailing out of Miami in November.
Pubbelly has developed seven restaurant concepts, including gastropubs, sushi bars, steakhouses and Italian restaurants.
“Food Republic will have items and inspirations from all over the Pubbelly group restaurants under one roof, with three distinct kitchens, so it’s going to be really fun,” partner Andreas Schreiner said. “We’re developing the concept now.”
From left, Andreas Schreiner, Sergio Navarro and José Mendin. Photo courtesy of Pubbelly
The cruise ship will be operated under a licensing agreement. Pubbelly management will train Food Republic’s chef de cuisine and then fly to Meyer Werft, Germany, where the ship is being built, for two weeks to train the staff. Training will continue as the ship crosses the Atlantic to its homeport of Miami.
Food Republic will feature dishes from Pubbelly’s menu, such as dates with chorizo and amberjack with lemongrass romesco, as well as items from its other concepts.
Pubbelly Restaurant Group operates a French brasserie called L’Echon, a Spanish bistro named Barceloneta and a sushi restaurant called Pubbelly Sushi.
The Norwegian Escape is working with other Miami-based companies to develop the ship’s foodservice. The ship will also have a beer hall, District Brew House, that will feature craft beer from Miami-based Wynwood Brewing Company, as well as cocktails from Elad Zvi and Gabriel Orta of Miami-based Bar Lab.
Celebrity chefs also are being tapped for the venture. Philadelphia-based chef Jose Garces is working on a restaurant for the ship, according to a release from Norwegian Cruise Line, and Buddy Valastro, star of “Cake Boss” and “Next Great Baker” on TLC, plans to open a unit of his Hoboken, N.J.-based Carlo’s Bake Shop on the ship.
Pubbelly will also open its first restaurants outside of its home market of Miami.
Schreiner and partners Sergio Navarro and José Mendin are teaming with Mexican operators Vida y Estilo Mexico to open two units of Pubbelly — a gastropub that features cuisine from around the world — in Mexico. The first restaurant is slated to open in Monterrey in the second quarter of 2015, and a Mexico City location is slated for the end of the year. The Mexican Pubbelly locations will be franchises.
In 2013, Pubbelly Restaurant Group’s owners sold their Italian restaurant, Macchialina, to chef Michael Priolo and general manager Jen Chaefsky.
Pubbelly closed its PB Steak steakhouse in June and plans to reopen it as PB Station, combining the steakhouse’s cuisine and a popup they operated there called PB Fish. The restaurant is slated to open in April as a cocktail bar on the roof of the new Langford Hotel in downtown Miami.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected].
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