Prakas & Co is thrilled to be featured in another article by Alexandra Clough of The Palm Beach Post in reference to the Che!!! deal we brokered earlier this month. We truly appreciate Alexandra for taking the time to interview both Tom Prakas for representing both the buyer and the seller and Bobby Khorrami for his future plans with the space. You can read more of Alexandra’s work here. The article reads as follows:
A New York restaurateur who spent the coronavirus pandemic in Delray Beach is putting down stakes in this village by the sea.
Bobby Khorrami and partners recently purchased the restaurant space formerly home to Che! Argentine Steakhouse at 900 E. Atlantic Avenue on the Intracoastal Waterway.
Plans are to open Meso Beach House, a Mediterranean-style restaurant similar to Khorrami’s popular Meso restaurant in Westchester County, New York. Khorrami also is known for his other eateries, which include The Harrow and The Tillage, American contemporary cuisine restaurants in Manhattan; and The Derby tavern in Poughkeepsie, New York.
In completing the Che! deal, Khorrami joins other New York-based restaurant operators who are opening in Palm Beach County in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
The former Che restaurant in Delray Beach has purchased by a New York-based restaurateur who will remake the waterfront space into a Mediterranean restaurant and bar.
Meso Beach House will evoke the elegance and escapism feel of the Greek Isles but with a friendly Delray Beach vibe, Khorrami said. “I’m not trying to bring Miami or New York here,” he said.
Instead, he’s planning to make the restaurant as inviting as possible to the community, with breakfast, lunch and dinner planned and a welcoming atmosphere that he hopes will attract events and clubs.
“We will connect with the locals,” he said.
A full renovation of the space is slated, with plans to open Meso Beach House by November.
The restaurant is more than a destination dream for Khorrami, who said he’s scouted for years for a South Florida location. The space also is a metaphor for a man who said he escaped New York to come to Florida in March 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic was closing in on the country.
New York’s lengthy statewide shutdown of restaurants also meant the closure of Khorrami’s four Manhattan eateries, only two of which reopened. Khorrami said the other two didn’t outlast the long shutdowns. Among them was Adella, a beloved eatery in Hell’s Kitchen.
But as the saying goes, when one door closes, another opens. In this case, that door was to a prime location in a lively beach town more than 1,000 miles away from Khorrami’s longtime home.
Boca Raton restaurant broker Tom Prakas of Prakas & Co. contacted Khorrami when the space became available earlier this year, and Khorrami closed the deal last month. The restaurant has a rare waterfront location and dock, said Prakas, who brokered the transaction.
Che!!! Restaurant , located at 900 E Atlantic Ave, Delray Beac, Florida, on Thursday, October 3, 2019.
Khorrami said he tried to patronize local restaurants doing take-out when he was hunkered down in Delray during the worst of the pandemic. As a result, he said he’s on friendly terms with many local restaurant staffers.
Although Che! will be transformed into a space evoking a breezy Greek eatery, Khorrami plans all the discipline and attention to ingredients he’s known for in New York.
Seafood dishes will figure prominently, including some from the Meso in Rye, New York. Dishes include grilled octopus, whole Branzino baked in salt, and lamp chops.
But Khorrami is primed for more inspiration. At press time, he planned to travel to Greece to bring back more ideas for Meso Beach House.
Other New York restaurateurs coming to Palm Beach County
Khorrami isn’t the only New York restaurateur bringing his concept to Palm Beach County in the wake of the pandemic.
Famed New York steakhouse Gallagher’s purchased the space formerly occupied by Madisons New York Bar Grill at 2006 N.W. Executive Circle, just west of Interstate 95 at Glades Road in Boca Raton.
In addition, Major Food Group of New York recently inked a deal to create several restaurants to the Boca Raton Resort & Club. The partnership also will include a Boca Raton location of the popular Sadelle’s brunch institution, now in SoHo and Las Vegas.
With the roll-out of vaccines allowing life to return to normal throughout the country, Khorrami said he’s not concerned that people who moved to Palm Beach County during the pandemic will head back to New York anytime soon.
The ease of exercising outside and the nearness of the ocean will flip habits.
Prior to the pandemic, many people living mostly in the North year-round, except for a few months in the winter, he said.
“Now they’re going to switch it and spend six to eight months in Florida, and be in in New York for a couple of months to see a show,” he said.
Source: Alexandra Clough // The Palm Beach Post