The Family Behind Renato’s

Jose-Luis Duran didn’t want to be a restaurateur although his step-father Renato Desiderio had emigrated from Capri, Italy, to open Renato’s on Via Mizner in 1987.

Renato’s

“I wanted to go to New York or California to study business. “I had no interest in restaurants,” Duran said over lunch at Renato’s. 

Jose-Luis Duran (right) with his mother, Arlene Desiderio.

“But if someone in the family has a restaurant, you need to help. Next thing I know, I spent 10 years in the kitchen.” 

Renato, who died in 1998, was “a good human being who treated everyone the same,” Duran said. “He lived in gratitude. I learned to say thank you from him.” 

Renato and Duran’s mother, Arlene Desiderio, “they really loved each other. After he passed, it was really tough.”

Arlene and Renato Desiderio

Duck Confit at Renato’s.

But in 2001, the family took over a nearby catering kitchen and started making takeout brick oven pizza.

“When two shops nearby closed, we took them over,” said Duran, and Pizza Al Fresco was born. Instead of closing for the summer, the place stayed open year round. 

The signature Al Fresco pizza dish at Pizza Al Fresco.

The third eatery came in 2014 when Duran was asked to bid on the restaurant at the Palm Beach Par 3 golf course.

“No one else was seriously interested, so we won the bid,” Duran said. Al Fresco has been serving breakfast, lunch and dinner overlooking the Atlantic Ocean ever since.

The Al Fresco patio overlooking Palm Beach Par 3.

The family’s latest restaurant is Acqua Cafe on South Ocean Blvd. which opened in 2020. “Palm Beach's south end has become renewed,” said Duran. “Home prices are up and younger people are moving in.”

Acqua Café

Now he has four restaurants to run, and barely finds time to go out on his cabin cruiser, Acqua Twins. But he’s not complaining.