🔒Serial entrepreneur eyes next challenge in Hartford’s restaurant scene

1 of 3

There is arguably no more desirable location in a capital city than the corner of Capitol Avenue and Main Street.

Truth be told, for restaurateurs in Hartford, that signature site has been problematic. Parking challenges, management, marketing and neighbor-relations issues have led to a series of restaurants closing there.

Daniel Navarro is next in line to give the spot a shot. He is the new owner/partner of the Sutra Fusion Bar — formerly Royal Masala, an Indian restaurant.

Navarro, 35, sees possibilities where others may see problems. He is of Peruvian and Puerto Rican descent and envisions Sutra offering an infusion of Latin American and Asian cuisine, while adding a distinctive flair downtown. An official re-launch is planned for August.

“Nothing is impossible to me,'' he said, sitting at a back table. “I'm trying to manage my time efficiently. It's a very delicate time in the business. We want to get things started on the right foot, where we're presenting things to our expectations and standards. And that's why I have to be so hands-on. We've got to make decisions that will allow us to open with a bang.''

Before its grand opening, Sutra — an ancient Indian term meaning “discourse” — will likely close for a few weeks for renovations. A new air conditioning compressor has to be purchased and repairs made to the freezer and other equipment.

Navarro moved to Connecticut in 2008. His desire to step into the restaurant business can be traced to his days in Boston, where he was born and raised by a single mother with his older brother. There, Navarro ran with a fast, and sometimes unsavory crowd while operating both a car customization business and a marketing firm that specialized in branding campaigns and websites for restaurants and nightclubs.

Navarro is a serial entrepreneur and a man with eclectic interests. A former graffiti artist, he enjoyed as a child reading Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Dickens and other literacy classics. With artistic peers, he traveled the world creating murals in such places as Spain, Italy, France, Peru and South America.

Intrigued by how technology can intersect with the financial services industry, he has been involved in the credit card processing business. Navarro is also CEO of United Cash and Capital, an alternative business lender that serves small and medium-sized enterprises.

His background in restaurant marketing, sales, building websites, financial services and the arts will, Navarro believes, bring a fresh approach to restaurant management. Of the seven employees, two are chefs.

His business partner recently became ill, so in recent weeks Navarro, who is single, has found himself “micro-managing” the operation, a time-consuming practice he believes will subside once things get rolling.

“With my experience doing a lot of marketing for restaurants and nightclubs, I've always liked the creative aspect of presenting drinks, food and combining that with the relationships that are built around that kind of atmosphere,'' Navarro said. “I love people. I love creativity. And I think food identifies a lot with culture and what is happening in the world. That's something I'm passionate about.”

Entrees, ranging from $15 and up, will include Lomo Salado (sautéed beef, onions and tomatoes), Cajun salmon, paella and French-cut chicken breast. Appetizers, $3 and up, will include Arancini — meat and cheese filled rice balls, Korean-style calamari and empanadas.

Navarro's journey to entrepreneurship hasn't been easy; there have been some hard lessons that matured him.

In his early 20s in Boston, while servicing customized-car clients and night club connections, Navarro admits that he too got caught up in the high life. There was a sense of urgency to financially help his mom, who was working multiple jobs. In 2004, at 23, Navarro was arrested and served four years in a Boston prison for drug-selling charges.

“I drifted into influences that weren't positive,” he says now. “By losing my freedom, it gave me the opportunity to understand my principles and my ethics. Everything that I was doing that led to that situation could have been prevented as a result of me understanding what was truly my nature, which is to be a man of honor. I think God put me through that and allowed me to survive that journey to make me the better man I am today.”

Across the street, also on Capitol Avenue and Main Street, the Republic Restaurant is in the midst of renovations for its grand opening. Soon, there'll be two new restaurants on a corner that has not been kind to eateries.

Let the discourse begin.

Stan Simpson is the principal of Stan Simpson Enterprises LLC, a strategic communications consulting firm. He is also host of “The Stan Simpson Show,” which airs Saturday, 5:30 a.m., on Fox CT or www.fox61.com/stan.