Derby Welcomes Two New Businesses

DERBY – Mayor Joe DiMartino rolled out the welcome mat Friday (Dec. 15) for two new businesses in town — one that will take you on a culinary adventure through Latin America and the other geared to get your car squeaky clean.

DiMartino, along with Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce President Bill Purcell and a host of other local officials, held ribbon cutting ceremonies for the grand openings of both Fuego Restaurant and Wine Bar and Splash Car Wash.

At Fuego (which means ​‘fire’ in Spanish), located at 87 Elizabeth St., brothers/owners Diego and Fabian Delgado are excited to bring the heat to Derby with their Latin and Spanish Fusion cuisine. The brothers bring more than 20 years experience in the restaurant business, having worked as servers, chefs and in management at several restaurants around Fairfield County as well as at the former Crave restaurant (now Uptown) in neighboring Ansonia.

It has been Diego Delgado’s dream since he was a young boy growing up in his native Ecuador to open his own restaurant and share his love of cooking with others.

“Our menu is a little different, something you haven’t seen in Derby before,” he said. ​“We put a lot of love in all our food, that’s the main ingredient.”

Delgado said he came up with the name Fuego, with the ​‘E’ in the restaurant logo laying on its side with a flame shooting out of it, to represent both the spicy cuisine and the wood-fired oven that many of the dishes are created in. He has 12 employees so far. 

Delgado said he and his brother, along with a team of friends and family, spent the last three months working to transform the 3,000 square-foot space that was previously occupied by Retro Grub and Pub at the corner of the Plaza on the Green.

The end result is a sleek and clean, modern space, with warm wood floors, posh green leather booths lining vintage brick walls, with plenty of tables, including high top tables in the bar area, flanked by lots of warm, pendant lighting. There’s also a large, private dining room in back for parties, and additional private dining space for larger groups of patrons.

But it’s the menu that Delgado said will have customers coming back for more. The menu runs the gamut from empanadas and shrimp pasta to paella with lobster and wood-fired chicken. A large offering of wine and beer, along with specialty cocktails and margaritas, sangria and mojitos, will whet any whistle.

Purcell said Fuego is opening at a transformational time in Derby’s history, with construction starting to take shape downtown.

“They (the Delgados) cut their teeth just up the road in Ansonia (at Crave and Uptown) and it’s a bold move to step into and do this on your own,” Purcell said. ​“There’s a lot of oohs and aahs when everyone walks through your doors and are just so impressed with what you’ve done here.”

DiMartino said he’s glad the Delgados chose to strike out on their own in Derby.

“Thank you for choosing Derby, we have confidence you’re going to do great things here. We’re here for you to help you in any way we can. This is kind of the beginning of the new downtown,” DiMartino said.

DiMartino noted how the ongoing Route 34 widening project, as well as the Trolley Pointe apartment complex going up downtown, is signaling nothing but good things ahead for Derby. Adding Fuego to the mix is part of a brighter future for Derby, he said. 

State Rep. Kara Rochelle presented the Delgados with a citation from the State of Connecticut welcoming them to the Valley.

“There’s lots of good things to come, and with all the new apartments coming in, we know you’re going to have lots of loyal customers coming to you,” Rochelle said.

Fuego is open from 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 4 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. They can be reached at 203 – 308-2069. Check out their full menu online on their website.

Splash Car Wash Opens

City officials also celebrated the grand opening of Splash Car Wash, located at 540 New Haven Ave., on Friday.

The Derby location is one of 61 other Splash chains located throughout Connecticut, New York and Vermont.

As part of the grand opening celebration, customers who donated to the Bradley School Playground Project over the weekend were treated to a free car wash.

Headquartered in Milford, Splash Car Wash was founded by Greenwich residents Mark Curtis and Chris Fisher. According to Splash’s website, Curtis and Fisher ditched their business suits in 1981 and ​“immersed themselves in suds and water.” They renamed the Greenwich Car Wash to Splash Car Wash in 1994 but kept the same formula of washing cars on a conveyor by hand in a tunnel.

Derby Splash is open daily from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

For more information visit Splash’s website.