Camacho Garage Rolls Into Westville

Chef Arturo Franco-Camacho dedicated his first restaurant to his mother and grandmother. Two decades later, he’s building a culinary vision around his father in New Haven’s Westville neighborhood.

Franco-Camacho is the co-owner and executive chef at Camacho Garage, a new Mexican restaurant at the corner of Fountain Street and Central Avenue. Both the space and its tapas-style menu are inspired by his father Pedro Camacho, who raised 11 children while operating an auto body shop in Tijuana.  

The senior Camacho traveled to New Haven for the opening, but was not taking photos or interviews Wednesday night during a press preview. Franco-Camacho said he was thrilled to have him there.

“It feels like a release,” he said, as stone bowls of sizzling queso flemado whizzed past him. “It’s a new beginning. It’s the adrenaline that I need to get up in the morning. I’m celebrating my dad’s efforts to raise 11 kids like he did, and it feels so good. This is definitely a special moment.”

The story of Camacho Garage is both brand new—it opens to the public this weekend—and decades in the making. Growing up in Tijuana, Franco-Camacho worked in his dad’s shop, learning the lullaby of cranking gears and slow, methodical repairs that took time and a little elbow grease. His dad became a real-life hero, from long hours in the shop to the lunches he churned out for his kids, usually tacos. When Franco-Camacho became a chef, he vowed that he would find a way to thank him.

Now, it’s also part of a fledgling culinary renaissance in the neighborhood. The restaurant sits just a block away from a newly reopened Delaney’s and two blocks from Pistachio Cafe. Three years ago, Franco-Camacho and partners Robert Bolduc and Marc Knight received zoning approval and widespread community support for the space, then an abandoned bank building. The three also run Shell & Bones Oyster Bar in New Haven’s City Point neighborhood and Geronimo Tequila Bar downtown.

When they began renovations, a floor plan with wide, glass-paneled garage doors, sleek exteriors and and half-lit brick seemed impossible. Since—and in the midst of a pandemic—they have transformed it into a vintage garage, with booths tucked into the far wall and a patio with tables spaced for social distancing. At the center is a zinc-top bar, staffed with masked, gloved bartenders who do a delicate ballet around the taps, glasses and wine bottles.

Old signs, some glowing in pink and red neon, pop from the walls. There is a just-manageable amount of kitsch, including old signage advertising both gasoline and cold beer, the latter of which flows freely on tap. A kitchen just to the right of the front door seems like it’s never not bustling.

Wednesday it churned out coordinated plates of guacamole, mushroom-and-cactus tacos, and figs stuffed with cocoa and cinnamon over a dinner service that buzzed with energy. As the space filled up, the constant hum of conversation rose to meet a pulsing soundtrack. 

Franco-Camacho walked through the space, greeting old friends. Around him, close to two dozen staff members bounced from table to table, refilling water glasses and changing out small plates with hands encased in latex gloves. Every so often, another round of drinks would appear at nearby tables.

No sooner had staffer Eland Cruz declared the mojito an early crowd favorite than it seemed to be everywhere, mint leaves bobbing on rum, bubbly soda and sugarcane. While the menu offers almost as much alcohol as it does food, there is also a section for non-drinkers, including juices, hibiscus iced tea, and fruit sodas.

“I always wanted to do something here,” Franco-Camacho said of opening in Westville. “We looked and we looked. We looked on State Street—there was nothing where we could do a garage. When we found it, I knew I wanted to start with the basics. Everything had to be fresh. That’s not even a question in Mexico.”

At the heart of it is his take on Mexican street food, which he’s beta tested with longtime collaborator Alex Morales. The menu’s centerpiece is tacos, churned out on fresh, still-hot corn tortillas with small, crisped air pockets that line their surface. To chicken, pork, beef, and fish, he has added vegetarian options, letting a symphony of cactus and wild mushrooms do the talking for themselves.

Franco-Camacho has also returned to a longtime love affair: ceviche, the citrusy, sharp broth for which he’s dreamed up new combinations. While clam may remain his first love, he’s included a ceviche de nopales hongos, where mushrooms and grilled cactus are bathed in lemon and cilantro.

The food feels indulgent but unfussy. Crisp, habanero-kissed duck tambores find themselves alongside esquites, rice and beans, chili-dusted fries and warm, and warming beef stock. A creamy, onion-studded guacamole doesn’t make a grand entrance but a humble one, a sign that Franco-Camacho has had the good sense to leave it alone.

It is also the first time in a while that Franco-Camacho has been able to play in the kitchen. In 1999, the chef opened Roomba in downtown New Haven with his wife Suzette, inspired by the matriarchs in his family. Eight years later, the couple launched Bespoke, a venue that was short-lived after a Yale University land grab in 2010. A string of Branford restaurants followed, as well as Franco-Camacho’s ongoing engagements at Shell & Bones and Geronimo.

This feels different, the excitement of something new and intimate he gets to share with diners. Wednesday, he tried out a mix of dulce de leche on fried sweet plantain and sliced figs with chocolate and cinnamon, served with a crackly top. He experimented with different types of paletas, churning out tamarind and avocado for different tables. A single, milky white ice pop studded with berries made an appearance across the restaurant.

In the spirit, he has also assembled a team that feels like family. He praised Francisco Sanchez for his work as general manager. When it came time to name a second-in-command, he pulled Westvillian Christine Puglisi, who was raised on Fountain Street and worked for five years with Camacho at Shell & Bones. She has since stepped up to supervise employees that she knew when they were kids at school.

Puglisi said she is excited to have a restaurant and bar back in Westville. At 24 years old, she grew up around the old Delaney’s, and hasn’t found a replacement for it since. When she began working in the restaurant industry five years ago, she never imagined that it would bring her back to her neighborhood. She joked that her mother is particularly thrilled for her new job, because the two see each other much more often.

“Delaney’s was a neighborhood staple,” she said. “When it burned down, we grieved. We grieved. Now we have that reopening at the same time. I think it’s time for a reimagined lower Westville.”

As she spoke, Franco-Camacho continued his rounds, his white hair turning gold in the setting sunlight. While opening during a pandemic is not what he planned, he said he’s excited to welcome the public into the restaurant. In three solid nights of friend, family and press previews, his staff have fielded requests from community members who have walked by. They all want to know when it will be open.

“The best cure for fear is action,” he said. “I opened Roomba in a basement on College Street 20 years ago, and people came. This is coming full circle.”

Camacho Garage is located at 36 Fountain Street in New Haven’s Westville neighborhood. It is open Sunday through Thursday from 4 - 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 4 - 11 p.m. Chef Arturo Franco Camacho will also be leading a cooking demo as part of Arte, Inc.'s Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations. To find out more, click here.