A businessman is investing 拢500,000 turning a former Chiquito premises at Derby鈥檚 Pride Park into a new venue called the Nicco Restaurant and Bar 鈥 named after his son.
Sanj Kumar, who is managing director of Derby and Nottingham car dealership NK Motors and part-owner of Lotus Indian Kitchen, in Willington, between Derby and Burton, said the new venue will serve Indian tapas and cocktails.
He said he bought the Chiquito premises after it closed in March, initially planning an extra showroom for NK Motors. Instead he decided to turn it into a new restaurant, creating more than 20 jobs and with space for around 250 people.
He said: 鈥淚鈥檓 110 per cent confident in the idea. It may be brave, or it may be stupid, but sometimes you鈥檝e got to take chances.
鈥淲ith lots of places shutting down, I wanted to make sure we could offer something positive for the people of Derby in the new year.
鈥淭his is something completely new. It鈥檚 not like anything else in Derby. We鈥檙e hoping to offer a bit of everything under one roof. One half of the restaurant will be dedicated to modern Indian cuisine, and the other will be a lively cocktail bar.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have a dedicated DJ deck to offer live entertainment on Friday and Saturday nights. It鈥檚 going to be the place to be.鈥
Sanj said the location was the key to his decision to turn the property into the new venture.
He said: 鈥淧ride Park is the best location in Derby. You have the football stadium, loads of people driving by and foot traffic. It seemed the perfect place to open up a new restaurant.
NK Construction, part of the NK Motor Group, is now carrying out the refurbishment of the property and it is hoped the new venue, offering mixed grill dishes and tapas sharing plates, will open in the spring.
Sanj said: 鈥淚t was initially only going to be a quick revamp but, when we got in there, we decided to renovate it properly.
鈥淲e鈥檝e cut it apart and started from scratch. We鈥檙e installing a state-of-the-art sound system and disco lights.
鈥淓verything will be set up to hold over 250 people and offer a high-quality dining and leisure experience.鈥
He said he plans to extend the venue after its first 12 months of trading.
He said: 鈥淚鈥檝e created plans to build a sleek champagne bar or shisha lounge at the other end of the car park.
鈥淭here is loads of space to expand. We have so much potential and I can鈥檛 wait to get started.鈥
