Milford restaurant expands family’s business
MILFORD — Kevin A. Inahuazo’s first business installs drywall; his second, masonry. Now he is launching his third — Costa Peru, a restaurant in the Devon section of the city due to open in April.
Restaurants and construction might seem like an incongruous mix, but Inahuazo, a 27-year-old entrepreneur from Meriden, assembled I&C Drywall Finishing and Manny’s Stoneworks for his brothers. Robert Inahuazo runs I&C and Wilton Inahuazo is the manager of Manny’s.
Having that combination of family and funding — both businesses earned gross receipts of about $600,000 last year — makes it a lot easier to remodel a restaurant, he said.
“Everything from the floor to the ceiling, we built ourselves. The only things we couldn’t do were the plumbing and the electrical,” Kevin Inahuazo said.
So far, Inahuazo’s family-based business model has worked for him. A graduate of Southern Connecticut State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration, Inahuazo learned that he had a flair for business at Hill Regional Career High School.
Inahuazo made a strategic location choice with Costa Peru. Located at 333 Naugatuck Ave., the restaurant is less than a dozen miles from Cibus Latin Fusion, El Sabor Latino and Palacio Latino of Stratford. Milford’s Isabel’s Bakery and Mexican restaurant and Pollo a la Brasa are closer still. Inahuazo hopes that Costa Peru will help them anchor Devon as a Latin food fan’s destiny of choice.
Inahuazo is running Costa Peru as a family business,
like his others.
This time, he is building it with help from his cousin,
Sabrina Inahuazo, as assistant manager, waitress and hostess. A customs
broker, Sabrina has a good touch with people, Kevin Inahuazo said.
Costa Peru’s menu includes many traditional Peruvian dishes. The menu lists 10 appetizers, including Papa a la Huancaina, a Peruvian appetizer from the region of Huancayo. The dish consists of sliced, steamed potatoes covered in Huancaina sauce and aji amarillo and white cheese. Another appetizer is Choros a la Chalaca, or Peruvian steamed mussels topped with onions, tomatoes, cilantro, corn and cancha.
As main courses, Costa Peru’s dishes will include Tallarin Verde, a thin-cut flat-iron steak, pork or chicken cooked with spaghetti in a Huacatay sauce with basil, spinach and cheese with French fries.
Costa Peru has four ceviches and 11 seafood dishes.
Inahuazo said he will lean on his experience as a supervisor at hospitality companies and his study of restaurant operations when the business opens. He is finishing his inspections and plans to open in mid-April.
“I’ve spent a lot of time around restaurant managers,” he said. “I know restaurant owners. In the New Haven area, I am very close to several owners and they have opened doors for me. I have asked questions and they have shown me around the kitchens and the way they do business.”
“This will be my first time hands-in,” Inahuazo added, “being in charge. But when it comes to management, I think I can handle it.”