[ about ]

It started with spikeball.

[ 01 — the story ]

From pickup games to plated courses.

Brian and Herbert met freshman year playing spikeball and discovered a shared obsession with food. They chased it separately — Brian in the kitchens of M Tempura and M Test Kitchen in Durham; Herbert through culinary school and a stage at Tuome, a Michelin-starred restaurant in New York.

Through mutual friends they connected with Allison, fresh from French pastry school at École Ducasse and her stage at A LaCroix Patisserie. Together they built [ stage ] from scratch out of a small apartment in Swift — complementing each other’s strengths, covering each other’s weaknesses.

stage /stahzh/

(n., from stagiaire)

A stage is a culinary apprenticeship — a cook volunteering in another chef’s kitchen to learn new methods and styles. Every one of our founders did one. It’s where the name comes from, and it’s how we treat every dinner: a chance to keep learning.

[ 02 — the mission ]

“We seek to transform fine dining into a tool for education, connection, and cultural exchange.”

Our mission is to foster a vibrant community by bridging the gap between students and professors through the shared exploration of food, encouraging meaningful conversations beyond the academic sphere. We aim to enrich the cultural tapestry of the fine dining experience, broadening its horizons and making it accessible to students. By doing so, we seek to transform fine dining into a tool for education, connection, and cultural exchange.