Fork in the Road and future middle fork owner, Mark Jensen
Lexington, KY - Mark Jensen’s middle fork kitchen bar, slated to open this summer in the former Pepper Distillery building, has successfully completed its Kickstarter campaign, attracting the most funds of any food-related campaign in Kentucky on the website.
The campaign, which ended on Monday, raised more than $24,000 from 134 backers for the new restaurant concept being developed by Jensen, who also owns the food-truck Fork in the Road. Jensen said many contributions came from current Fork in the Road patrons, as well as his friends and associates.
"We are really thankful for all the backing, and we’re proud to be here in Lexington,” Jensen said.
The campaign passed its $20,000 goal on April 23. At that point, the project was within a few thousand dollars of becoming Kickstarter’s top-funded Kentucky food project, and Jensen forged ahead, offering some additional donor incentives to encourage contributions in the final days.
Jensen said the Kickstarter funding is an integral part of his much larger financing plan for the new enterprise, but the interest and support from the community also has served as an important validation of his investment.
“This helps us to show that there’s a strong need and a strong desire for a restaurant to go in at that particular location,” Jensen said.
Jensen said middle fork is still on target for a soft opening in July, including some promotional events to thank early backers. The restaurant is targeted to be fully open for business in August. For more on plans for the restaurant see a previous feature on middle fork by clicking here.