Darius Mansoory, owner of three of Delaware’s most popular restaurants, died of a heart attack on New Year’s Eve in Cuba.

Mansoory, 52 owner of Cherry Hospitality, created Stingray Sushi Bar in Rehoboth Beach and Mikimotos and Washington Street Ale House in Wilmington. He also was an avid collector and repeat guest on American Restoration on the History Channel. In 2014, he brought a vintage World War Two practice bomb filled with sand.

He was a graduate of  St. Andrew's School, A.I. duPont High School and  the University of Maryland.

Mansoory grew up in a contemporary Centreville home, but he said his business travels to sleek, edgy restaurants, not childhood influences, sparked the ideas for his eclectic home décor and his collections. He lived in a center-hall colonial in Westover Hills, but an antique ambulance truck was parked in the driveway and, at times, a full-sized gasoline pump fresh from a New Orleans antique shop was the first thing visitors saw as they crossed his threshold.

He is survived by his mother, Janet Mansoory, his father Amir Mansoory, his girlfriend Katie Loizeaux and Bernie, his dog.