The Kitchen, a market-driven café, opens at Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego 

One of Southern California’s revered restaurateurs, Tracy Borkum, principal Urban Kitchen Group (UKG), has partnered with the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD).

The institution recently underwent a $105 million renovation led by prolific New York-based design firm Selldorf Architects. With the introduction of Borkum’s dual restaurants, The Kitchen (opened Feb. 10), and an undisclosed tasting menu experience (opening in late spring), MCASD will help to usher in a new era of destination dining in La Jolla.

Conceptualized with the intention of providing two completely unique market-driven experiences, The Kitchen’s casual café and a forthcoming tasting menu both draw inspiration from the coastal Mediterranean regions of Southern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa including, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Morocco, Turkey, and Israel. The culinary team is led by chef/partner Tim Kolanko, executive chef Jeff Armstrong, and tenured UKG executive sous chef Sergio Rodriguez, who simultaneously helm many of UKG’s blockbuster concepts including Gold Finch modern delicatessen, Artifact and Craft Café at Mingei International Museum, Urban Kitchen marketplace at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, among others.

The partnership with MCASD signals a new sweet spot for Borkum’s hospitality group — the expansion into San Diego’s art institutions responsible for feeding the cultural appetites of guests from around the world.

“It’s a great marriage,” says Borkum of her partnerships with MCASD, Mingei, and Rady Shell. “Food is art, and it’s wonderful to play a role in elevating the dining scene within so many of the city’s creative institutions. As an extension of MCASD, our concepts marry the coastal appeal of our surroundings with menus that are expressive of the museum and its international collections.”

UKG has once again partnered with La Jolla architect Jennifer Luce of Luce et Studio (Artifact at Mingei) to artfully design and furnish the two spaces, which incorporate rotating works of art through MCASD.

The Kitchen is a full-service café offering breakfast and lunch Wednesday through Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. With seating for 80 guests exclusively outdoors, the 2,420 square foot courtyard is set against the backdrop of a historic former residence designed by 20th-century architect, Irving J. Gill.

Comfortable and charming, yet contemporary, best describe the appeal of The Kitchen’s garden café located in MCASD’s Gartner Court. Timeless teak seating set under large, romantic umbrellas has been paired with the new landscape designed by Selldorf Architects to create an instantly alluring patio on Prospect with a nod to European café culture.

Inside The Kitchen, guests step into a historic building by famed post-modern architects Venturi Scott Brown. Met with a bright and airy interior space, guests can enjoy a curated selection of retail, home goods, and freshly packaged to-go meals.

“The beauty of this space is remarkable, as it connects four generations of design (Gill, Venturi Scott Brown, Selldorf) and seamlessly brings connectivity to decades of art and culture,” says The Kitchen’s design partner Luce. “What a unique opportunity for a restaurant to sit at this intersection of history, and what better way to gather them all than with food.”

Like the ambiance, the menu sits perfectly at the crossroads of culture, style, and substance. Armstrong makes the most of the Mediterranean region’s deep, lavish flavors with breakfast dishes such as Spanish-style Torrijas French toast soaked in a punchy citrus creme Catalan (akin to creme brulee); savory cilbir toast (Turkish-style poached eggs) over garlicky dill yogurt, spicy Syrian Aleppo butter; a decadent lobster and mushroom omelet; and a sweet or savory buckwheat crepe, the latter filled with traditional Greek kasseri cheese, spinach, roasted pepper, apricot mustard seed jam and paired with a fried egg.

Lunch offers a range of vibrant salads and sandwiches, such as the smoked salmon with whipped herb goat cheese and sweet carrot slaw, or the burrata and Calabrian salami with roasted pepper and hot honey. Capturing the essence of Middle Eastern social culture and food at its center, mezze encourages guests to share in a spread of small plates with baba ghanoush, charred savoy cabbage, quinoa and apple tabouli, confit albacore, roasted carrot hummus, mushrooms a la grecque. Add a berbere yogurt marinated swordfish kebab plate, the toum roasted chicken marinated in whipped garlic (above), Aleppo pepper, and sumac, or enjoy a heartier lamb bulgur burger with shredded lettuce, cabbage, sumac red onion, tzatziki, and mango chutney on a brioche bun.

For something sweet, indulge in the burnt Basque cheesecake, seasonal budino Italian pudding, or a selection of housemade pastries. The Kitchen offers a curated list of wine and beer as well as cocktails, Dark Horse coffee, smoothies, and Paru teas.

THE KITCHEN

Where: 700 Prospect St.

Hours: Wednesdays through Sundays from 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. for breakfast and lunch, with grab-and-go retail and a coffee counter open until 4 p.m.

Contact: thekitchenatmcasd.com, 619-880-8719.