Wanting to launch a more casual concept, San Diego restaurateur Tracy Borkum had the perfect venue: her fine-dining restaurant Laurel. "Fine-dining restaurants in particular have fought the toughest battle throughout these hard times, and rather than risk seeing Laurel lose the fight we took a proactive approach and launched our new concept within our existing space," she explains, adding that they did the renovation in four weeks. "This concept was not born overnight, nor was it simply a knee-jerk reaction to the pressures of a down economy."
Her vision for the new restaurant, called Cucina Urbana: to deliver outstanding food, wine, ambiance, and service at a price level that can be enjoyed weekly rather than once a year. To match that, she created a homey, been-there-forever feel with a mix of rustic elements, found objects, vintage pieces, and contemporary elements. Columns are wrapped in various wood species of fence boards recovered from San Diego County, which were on the way to the dump; one would assume she painted them for a striped effect throughout the restaurant, but in fact they are in their original condition. Laurel’s original white chairs were reupholstered in burlap coffee bags that she scoured from her coffee vendors. Existing Swarovski chandeliers were "dressed down" with objects like horseshoes, old keys, bottle openers, and tin birds. "It is most important that the interior design of a restaurant clearly introduce a guest to the style of the food and service they are about to experience," she says, adding that she brought in local talent to help her reach her vision such as lighting designer Jennifer Price and designers Miki Iwasaki, Jennifer Luce, and Monica Crawford.
New additions come in the form of a wood community table, wood dining tables, and metal dining chairs. Artwork throughout provides a bit of whimsy. The hallway leading toward the restrooms is a decoupage of various graphics including vintage Italian movie posters, recipes from old cookbooks, and newspaper ads. "It’s one of the most talked about design elements of the restaurant, and evokes a fun and whimsical side of our concept," she says. And along the back wall is a colorful mural by local artist Juan Marante Tokayo. "The mural gives the space an urban pop, while keeping with the muted tones and rustic vibe of warmth and comfort," she says. "Upon closer look, the Italian sayings featured on our uniform t-shirts can be seen within the mural as well. We will probably invite Tokayo back soon to add another layer to the wall—just to keep things fun!"
And as for the name of the new restaurant, she enlisted the help of friends and regular Laurel guests via Twitter, allowing them to suggest ideas. She also used Twitter and a blog to keep the community up to date with the construction progress and sneak peeks of the menu. “Social Media has become such a valuable tool for our industry and will continue to be an interactive vessel for us with our new website,” she says.
