Gourmet Grab & Go

Mango Mercado in Palm Beach Gardens offers a place to grab a taste of Chef Pushkar Marathe’s magic and bring it home

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Breakfast congee, made with steamed eggs, bacon, leeks, mushrooms, chili crunch. Photo by Alissa Dragun
Breakfast congee, made with steamed eggs, bacon, leeks, mushrooms, chili crunch. Photo by Alissa Dragun

Chef Pushkar Marathe is known for the incredibly flavorful global cuisine he serves at Stage and Ela Curry & Cocktails. And now he has opened a gourmet market where foodies can pick up a prepared meal to-go and shop for some of the unique ingredients he uses in his dishes.

Chef Pushkar Marathe. Photo by Alissa Dragun
Chef Pushkar Marathe. Photo by Alissa Dragun

After moving Ela Curry & Cocktails to a larger storefront a few doors down in The Shops of Donald Ross Village in Palm Beach Gardens, Marathe and his business partner, Andrew Dugard, decided to transform the original space into a specialty market—Mango Mercado.

“We felt that people needed a boutique-like place that had character,” Marathe says of the new store, which opened in May. “At Mango Mercado, we have a wine market, a grab-and-go area, and prepared foods. We also have a shelf of ingredients that we use in our recipes.”

Growing up in India, Marathe always loved mangoes, and after moving to Florida, he discovered the different varieties grown here. The inspiration behind Mango Mercado, the fruit is used in many of the items sold at the market, including yogurts, jams, salads, lemonade, iced tea, and cheesecake.

View of the counter and kitchen area. Photo by Alissa Dragun
View of the counter and kitchen area. Photo by Alissa Dragun

One of the market’s staples is the homemade rotisserie chicken, which can be purchased as a half or whole bird. It’s the same chicken that is used in their pulled-chicken sandwich with avocado, cucumbers, and homemade Greek oregano dressing, as well as their curry chicken salad, The Coronation (named so as the dish is typically served during British royal coronations).

An expansive salad station includes 60 different ingredients and a half dozen homemade dressings. Made-to-order and prepared breakfast and lunch sandwiches include ham, cheese, and bacon on a hoagie, turkey club, beef carpaccio, tuna salad, and piadinas (Italian flatbreads).

Mango Mercado also accepts catering orders. Photo by Alissa Dragun
Mango Mercado also accepts catering orders. Photo by Alissa Dragun

For kids (and kids at heart), there is the Toyam & Rosie’s Kids Special. Named for Marathe’s 10-year-old son and Dugard’s 13-year-old daughter, the meal includes chicken tenders with a side of fries. Decadent desserts range from tasty cookies to Key lime pie in a jar. They carry more than 50 varieties of wine by the bottle, and eat-in diners can also purchase a few by the glass.

For the fall/winter season, Marathe and Dugard have added a bunch of squash and pumpkin dishes to the menu, including butternut squash curry soup, pumpkin bread, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin spice cookies, and pumpkin bread pudding.

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