Bye, bye, Palm Beach’s favorite pie
It’s a classic Palm Beach memory: If you’ve eaten Testa’s strawberry pie, you never forget it.
Nancy Maass Kinnally, who grew up in Palm Beach, lives in Orlando now and laments that she won’t have a chance to stop into Testa’s this week for one last bite.
“I remember having large family gatherings on the Testa’s back patio that would last a couple of hours,” Kinnally says. “I always looked forward to the strawberry pie with that thick, flaky crust and the big chunks of whole, or nearly whole, strawberries floating in that yummy, translucent strawberry gel and topped with whipped cream. No matter how much pasta I ate — and I ate a lot — I always had room for that pie.”
Testa’s — a Palm Beach staple since 1921 and Palm Beach County’s oldest restaurant — will close its familiar patio and restaurant at 221 Royal Poinciana Way on Saturday evening.
That means no more pie or blueberry pancakes or peoplewatching on the patio … at least for a while.
Testa’s is closing so a 1.3-acre site on Royal Poinciana Way can be redeveloped into six two-story buildings with a new restaurant, shops and six luxury condos.
“We knew this day would come and it is with great sadness that we must say goodbye for now,” Tom Testa said in an email last week.
From a soda fountain in a theater … to a local landmark
Testa’s opened as a small soda fountain in the old Garden Theatre in 1921, soon after patriarch Michele Testa Sr. arrived in Palm Beach from Chicago.
It has been in its current location since 1947. Before that, it was in other locations, including 207 Royal Poinciana Way, where Nick & Johnnie’s recently closed after nine years.
In 2015, Tom Testa said: “Michele Testa Sr. began with a menu idea which we follow today, while changing for the times — local seafood including stone crabs claws, fresh fruits and vegetables sourced from Florida, hand-cut steaks and pasta dishes with sauces made following longtime family recipes. The desserts are made on In today’s the art of finding gold among the garbage.
Free to subscribers on the ePaper and at the premises, including Key lime pie, coconut layer cake and, of course, strawberry pie.”
The Testa family is considering sites in and out of Palm Beach for a possible reopening, Testa told the Palm Beach Daily News. He and his family thanked their customers for 96 years of sweet teeth and support.
“All our customers are family to the Testa family and we will truly miss them, but hopefully see them in the near future in a different location.”
What will happen on Royal Poinciana?
Demolition will soon begin on this stretch of Royal Poinciana, which was sold to the Frisbie family for $10.3 million last year.
Hitting the bulldozer: Testa’s restaurant and service station, the Via Testa and buildings to the rear.
Construction will begin by October and take 40 to 45 months to complete, the project spokesman told the Palm Beach Daily News in May.
Before the Frisbies bought the land, it was owned by Saudi Prince Faisal Abdullah al Saud, son of the late Princess Hussa Khalid Abdulaziz al Saud, who had been president of the properties’ ownership company until her death in 2010 at 59. Her father was the late King Khalid al Saud, who ruled Saudi Arabia from 1975 to 1982.
The princess’ interest in Palm Beach investment properties stretched back three decades and included, for several years in the 1990s, an equity stake in the landmark Paramount Building.
Infamous site
While Testa’s has more longevity than any other local restaurant, the site of Nick & Johnnie’s has more infamy.
In an earlier incarnation, it was Chuck & Harold’s, coowned by Chuck Muer, who, along with his wife and two friends, became lost at sea in 1993.
Chuck & Harold’s is the place where Sen. Ted Kennedy had brunch on Easter 1991, the same weekend his nephew, William Kennedy Smith, was accused of rape. (He was acquitted after a notorious trial that brought many Kennedys to town, including John F. Kennedy Jr.)
Further down Royal Poinciana Way …
Cucina Dell’ Arte, at 257 Royal Poinciana Way, has also closed, with plans to reopen with a new look by Nov. 1.
Nick Coniglio said that he and his chef/partner John Kent Thurston III are now bringing on new owners to help with the project. The team consists of Coniglio, who also co-owns Nick & Johnnie’s, Island Bee and E.R. Bradley’s; Rick Aurigemma of New York’s hip 310 Bowery Bar; and Ned Grace, son of Capital Grille founder and Palm Beacher Edward Grace III.
The three partners just opened 123 Datura Bar & Kitchen in West Palm Beach and now want to focus their time, creativity and resources on a “brand new” Cucina — one that will appeal to a more mature and sophisticated crowd.