Miami Beach‘s Epicure market is about to take it’s fresh baked breads, homemade soups and prepared foods on the road. This gourmet market, a Miami Beach institution for more than 60 years, is taking over as the ground floor anchor tenant in the newly approved 14 story mixed use facility with 20,500 square feet of retail, 77,400 square feet of office space and 243 Sunny Isles condos at 17150 and 17190 Collins Avenue where the famous Rascal House sits today. The request was made by restaurateur Ike Starkman, proprietor of the Rascal House, Epicure Market in South Beach and Jerry’s Famous Deli chain. The fate of The Rascal House has not yet been decided or whether it has a future in the new building or elsewhere.
“We feel it’s time to grow Epicure,” said Jason Starkman, one of the Epicure owners, which was purchased 10 years ago from the original founder’s of Jerry’s Famous Deli. “The one thing we don’t want to do is open up stores that are not like the original. It has to be exact. It has to have the same feeling.”
Epicure typically draws in 1,500 to 1,700 customers daily with sales growing from $10 million each year to $23 million today. The couple with two jobs is becoming more the norm with the person in charge of putting dinner on the table looking for an easy solution and time saving convenience by picking up the foods already prepared. Starkman said details are being worked out for this new project however the mixed use project’s gourmet Epicure market will include a cafe’ component.
News of the potential Rascal House closure took some longtime patrons by surprise. “I hope it’s not true, and they are able to keep it open. Every year our friends come down to stay, and they always ask us to take them there,” said Sammie Basile, who said she has frequently gone to the restaurant since she and her husband retired more than 20 years ago from New York. “There is no other place like it down here“. MiamiSunPost
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