The Kennison, New Restaurant At Chicago's Hotel Lincoln, Opening July 6

The Kennison, the restaurant going into the former Perennial Virant space at the Hotel Lincoln, has announced its opening date: Thursday, July 6.

The opening represents a new direction for the Boka Restaurant Group, which has already tried two other restaurants in the space. Perennial Virant and, before that, Perennial, featured high-profile chefs (Ryan Poli and Paul Virant, respectively) and were critically successful, but The Kennison (a partnership with 90/94 Restaurant Group, a new project created by Ryan See and Dan Warren) looks to appeal more to neighborhood critics.

"We want it to be welcoming and fun," says chef Bill Walker, a veteran of Wood Restaurant, Salero and Old Town Social. "It'll be a little bit more approachable. We have a hamburger on the menu and two pastas."

Of course, this being a Boka-related project, The Kennison will still be more ambitious than your regular neighborhood joint. It will have a raw bar, staffed by what the restaurant is referring to as a "rawtender," where you'll find fresh oysters, tuna tartare and a rotating crudo selection. It will also make good on its location by using a lot of produce from Green City Market, across the street.

To read more details about the new restaurant from the Chicago Tribune, click here.