Parma Palm Beach, an Italian-inspired quick service restaurant, is expected to open in September at 7170 S. Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach’s SoSo neighborhood.
Owned by the family behind Joseph’s Classic Market, the venture is led by Joseph J. Acierno, the eldest son of founder Joseph Acierno. After 15 years in the family business, he is branching out with a concept built around sandwiches, salads, coffee and pastries.
Named for the northern Italian city known for Parmigiano Reggiano and Prosciutto di Parma, the business is built around Acierno’s philosophy of “simple food made better.”
A family business takes a new direction
The Acierno family’s roots in food stretch back to Brooklyn, where Joseph Acierno learned the butcher trade before moving south.
In 2005, he founded Joseph’s Classic Market, which has grown into a South Florida gourmet food business with locations spanning Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Palm Beach Gardens and West Palm Beach. A commissary operation at the Gardens market supplies prepared foods and specialty items to the stores each day.
The younger Acierno grew up in that environment.
Now 33, he has spent much of his adult life working throughout the business, moving between operations, food production and management while learning the mechanics of a company built around prepared foods, specialty ingredients and customer service.
Parma Palm Beach emerged from that experience but is intended to stand on its own.
Though family members are involved in the venture, he emphasized that Parma Palm Beach is not a smaller version of Joseph’s Classic Market.
Instead, it is designed as a separate concept with its own identity.
Lessons learned at the table
Acierno credits years of travel, dining and observation with helping shape the project.
He has eaten widely, from neighborhood cafés to Michelin-starred restaurants, paying attention not only to food but also to the details that make certain establishments memorable.
Those experiences reinforce a preference for restraint.
“You don’t need to pile on ingredients to make something taste incredible. You need the best ingredients and the discipline to leave them alone.”
The concept’s name reflects that philosophy.
“Everything is revolved around two main focal points: Parma, Italy, and Palm Beach,” Acierno said. “Now it becomes this blend of imported products and a local store that you could not really find anywhere else.”
Parma, long regarded as one of Italy’s great food cities, is synonymous with products that have achieved international recognition while remaining rooted in tradition.
Acierno said those values helped shape his approach to the menu.
Local bakers, coffee will contribute to the menu
The menu will center on sandwiches including a variety of chopped chicken wraps, salads, pastries, smoothies and coffee.
The supporting cast is local. Bread by Johnny will supply sourdough hoagies but foccacia will be made in-house. Floridian Coffee Co. is behind an Italian-style roast for the café, and pastries will come from Lingonberry in Palm Beach Gardens.
Rather than offering dozens of options, Acierno is keeping the menu intentionally concise, with an emphasis on quality ingredients and consistency.
He described Parma Palm Beach as an all-day sandwich shop at heart, though one designed to accommodate a range of occasions, from a morning coffee stop to lunch, takeout or an afternoon pastry.
The emphasis, he said, is not on novelty but execution.
Years spent in food retail taught him that patrons return for consistency and quality as much as creativity.
Choosing SoSo
Parma Palm Beach will occupy a freestanding building near South Olive Elementary School and the South Olive tennis courts, across from Don Ramon and a short distance from several established neighborhood businesses.
Acierno said he considered other areas but ultimately favored the South End.
“It’s not downtown, but where the locals are.”
His family already operates Joseph’s Classic Market on South Dixie Highway near Belvedere Road, and many longtime family friends live nearby.
The café will include indoor seating, along with a pickup window designed to simplify takeout orders and deliveries.
That feature developed from watching how popular restaurants often struggle to accommodate delivery drivers, online orders and walk-in patrons in the same space.
Details matter
During a recent interview, Acierno moved easily from discussions about bread and coffee to conversations about customer flow, service standards and design details.
His observations often focused on elements patrons may not consciously notice but nonetheless remember.
“The texture of a restroom towel is as important as the plate you put the product on and the coffee cup that you’re going to hold,” he said.
That attention extends to staffing and training, where Acierno plans to remain closely involved as opening day approaches.
For someone raised in a family whose livelihood has long revolved around food, the habits seem less surprising than inevitable.
Parma Palm Beach may be a new name on South Dixie Highway, but its foundations are familiar: a family business, a lifelong education in food and hospitality, and an effort to translate those lessons into a more compact format.
For Acierno, the project also marks a personal milestone.
“I’m 33 years old,” he said. “I want to put another piece to the puzzle and my family’s legacy.”
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Joseph’s family plans new Italian concept in West Palm | Exclusive
Reporting by Diana Biederman, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Diana Biederman, Palm Beach Post | USA TODAY Network
