Kensington's Fish Public Transforming Into Twist On CUCINA Urbana

Several Eater readers kindly forwarded us an e-mail that was sent from restaurateur Tracy Borkum (Urban Kitchen Group) to residents of Kensington, where Borkum operated Kensington Grill for 18 years before revamping it into the East Coast-inspired seafood-focused Fish Public in June 2013, only to see that shutter at the end of 2014.

Since then, rumors have been circulating that Borkum, a longtime leader in the local food industry, would likely be morphing the space at 4055 Adams Avenue into a version of her bulletproof CUCINA urbana in Bankers Hill and Del Mar's CUCINA enoteca. In the message, she confirms that the yet-unnamed eatery will reopen in early 2016 as a more casual take on her CUCINA concept, saying:

Today, I am thrilled to announce that we hope to be up and running by February 2016. We are hard at work writing a menu (think ‘casual CUCINA’ sans pizza in respect of The Haven), designing a few tweaks to the space, sourcing a fabulous management team and deciding upon a name! Please be reassured that it’s not that we’ve been too busy or haven’t cared to resurrect our home on Adam Avenue. Rather, after Kensington Grill’s local support waned, and a very costly investment in Fish Public, it was important that we take our time and provide the community a restaurant that was fitting and financially sustainable. I have great respect and gratitude to all those who supported me in the beginning of my culinary journey 20 years ago when I opened the Grill. Now, once again, I humbly ask for your support as we embark upon our next 20 in the ‘hood!