In taking over the space that used to house the Gypsy Cab Co., Purple Olive owners Kristen White and Peter Kenney renovated the space. | Old City PR
Published on October 23, 2025 at 2:13 pm
Free local news and info, in your inbox at 6 a.m. M-F. Sign up for the Jacksonville Today newsletter.
After 21 years in business at its old location in St. Augustine Beach, Purple Olive will open its doors Friday in the former Gypsy Cab Co. space on Anastasia Island.
The new restaurant will include a menu combining Purple Olive’s offerings from over the years and some old Gypsy Cab Co. favorites.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
It’s a big change for co-owners Peter Kenney and Kristen White, as the new space will provide double the seating of their previous location.
“We are super excited about it,” White says. “If you’re familiar with St. Augustine, finding the right real estate to make the move like that is few and far between.”
That amount of room also means the restaurant will be able to do some new things like housing a full-service bar: Pape’s Bar, named for Pape’s Drive In, a restaurant that once occupied the building.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
Purple Olive intends to continue to offer catering services, and the new restaurant will include a menu made up of Chef Kenney’s “greatest hits,” White says.
“He’s pulling in things he’s made and loved over the last 35 years,” she says.
That includes some favorites from Gypsy Cab Co., which closed earlier this year. Kenney spent five years working as a chef at Gypsy Cab before he opened his own restaurant, White says. Thanks to a blessing from Gypsy Cab founder Ned Pollack, diners may recognize some of the menu items.
“He knows those recipes forwards and backwards,” White says, “so we’re including a couple in the mix.”
While the old Purple Olive location on State Road A1A South will close, White says to stay tuned — once the new Purple Olive location is up and running, she says she and Kenney have some ideas for the old A1A spot.
While the two make finishing touches to open their new restaurant, they’re also planning a wedding — the two are getting married next month.
If you’re looking for a way to test the strength of a relationship, White says, open a restaurant together.
The new Purple Olive location on Anastasia Boulevard will open for dinner every day at 4 p.m. starting Friday.
