Palm Beach cigar store gets approval to offer liquor, wine service

Cigar enthusiasts soon will be able to pair their stogies with a nice scotch or a glass of wine at a Worth Avenue cigar store.

At its development review meeting June 14, the Town Council approved a special exception and site plan request from Churchill Cigar Co. at 329 Worth Ave. to allow beer, wine, and liquor service.

That decision, which came on a 4-1 vote, is conditioned on the drafting and approval of a declaration of use agreement between the town and Churchill Cigar Co., which opened in December.

That agreement will come before the council next month.

More: Owners of Raptis Rare Books look to diversify holdings on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach

Council member Julie Araskog, citing concerns about cigar odor, was the only no vote.

"The smell still worries me very much," she said.

Concerns about odor forced a one-month deferral of the special exception request from Churchill Cigar Co. owners Matthew and Adrienne Raptis.

Since that meeting, they have installed a pair of commercial-grade smoke eaters that are designed to remove tobacco smoke and keep air in indoor spaces cleaner and safer.

"They've demonstrated that any smoke is interior to the space," said Maura Ziska, an attorney representing Matthew and Adrienne Raptis. "They're doing their best to keep the odors out."

Churchill Cigar Co. is one of five units in the Via Roma Building that the Raptises bought for $4.5 million in 2021 from longtime Worth Avenue jeweler Stuart Doppelt of H.T. Stuart & Co.

Raptis Rare Books occupies two of the other units, the recently opened Via Roma Café occupies a fourth, and the fifth unit remains unoccupied. An unnamed wine store is being discussed for that unit, Adrienne Raptis told the Daily News last month.

Churchill Cigar Co. sells fine cigars and accessories, and also offers customers the opportunity to smoke their cigars.

But Matthew and Adrienne Raptis have long wanted to include drink service inside their 800-square-foot space.

"Many of our customers have expressed the desire to be able to pair the cigar with a rich experience of having a nice scotch or glass of wine," Matthew Raptis wrote in a letter to the town's Planning, Zoning and Building Department in March.

"When you relax and smoke a cigar and drink a nice glass of wine or whiskey, you stop, put your phone down and have real conversations with friends. You make lasting memories and challenge one another with ideas," he wrote.

Raptis said he would not offer a full-service bar at Churchill Cigar Co., but rather a limited menu of drinks such as wine, rum, cognac, whiskey, and beer. The business will not serve food.

"People that smoke a cigar like a nice cognac, or a whiskey," Adrienne Raptis told council members. "This is just a nice addition to the via. Before, there was nothing back there. We're trying to make a space that is a nice place for Worth Avenue."

Council member Lew Crampton joined Ted Cooney, Bobbie Lindsay and Maggie Zeidman in supporting the addition of a limited drink menu at Churchill Cigar Co.

"It serves a certain class of people we have in this town, a certain constituency who would benefit from and would have fun sitting in convivial comforts talking about the issues of the day, smoking a Cohiba and drinking a brandy," Crampton said. "This is not going to turn into a (bar) with beers sloshing around.

"This is intended to be a high-class place, and it's consistent with Palm Beach. It's different, it's unique, and I think it's worth giving them the go-ahead."

Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Worth Avenue cigar store gets approval to add liquor, wine service