Costa restaurant closes doors in Palm Beach
It was a concept that swept into Palm Beach’s Esplanade Plaza, filling an out-of-the-way, secondstory space with the aromas of modern Mediterranean cuisine.
But like the restaurants that had tried and failed in the space before it, sleek and stylish Costa Palm Beach could not make it work. The restaurant permanently closed on Thursday.
“I’m really proud of what we did at Costa. We did something that’s remarkable, whether or not it worked financially or not, that’s not what I’m going to judge it by,” says Sascha Bennemann, who owned Costa with his wife, Danielle Bennemann. “I’m going to take that experience and use it as a template.”
The Bennemanns announced the closing via Facebook, saying: “After an amazing journey, accolades and the opportunity to collaborate with many talented people we have made the hard
decision to close Costa Palm Beach… Our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who was a part of this very special project.”
Open for one year and three months, Costa impressed locals with its refined spin on Greek and Turkish classics. (It was named “Best New Restaurant” in The Post’s 2017 Critic’s Choice Awards.) In the hands of executive chef David Valencia, formerly of Meat Market, the kitchen at Costa turned out a range of unexpected dishes, such as fresh hamachi crudo scattered with sumac-dusted chips, Spanish-inspired garlic shrimp served in a clay pot and topped with bitter greens and an impeccable salt-baked branzino.
Valencia posted his own Facebook message Thursday afternoon. It reads, in part:
“I wish I could name all of the people who dined here and loved the food. That is the reason why we do this to begin with. My pleasure, my satisfaction came from the happy smiles after you’ve experienced an amazing meal!… Running a restaurant is probably one of the hardest businesses to run. You work hard and put your all into it, but you never know what’ll be thrown at you. Sometimes it’s just out of your control.”
Bennemann says the closing at The Esplanade does not signal the end of Costa.
“We’re going to pick up the pieces and look for another place. We can’t stop,” he said.
That other space will not be in Palm Beach, says Bennemann. The island’s marked flow of seasonal residents made it more difficult to operate the restaurant, he said.
“It’s just not feasible in Palm Beach. Seasonality is so extreme,” he said.
Bennemann says he is looking for the right location in West Palm Beach, where the indie dining scene is expanding. And while the concept will be similar, it will be modified, he says.
“It will be a tweaked version, not a carbon copy of Costa. But that is my style of food and service, so we will keep the spirit of it,” said Bennemann, who hasn’t decided if an upcoming restaurant will bear the same name.
Since opening the restaurant on Jan. 17, 2017, Costa’s owners attempted to remain visible in what is one of the most challenging spaces in Palm Beach. Just two months ago, they expanded the restaurant’s concept to include a graband-go market. And just two weeks ago, the restaurant announced its summer hours and menus.
The second-floor space once housed GiGi’s Tap and Table, Cha Cha’s Latin Kitchen and Trevini Ristorante. It was to be the home of a New York concept called Cooklyn, but after months of renovation, that restaurant never opened. The following year, Costa debuted instead.