Since 1997

About Kensington Market

“When you got a good recipe, don’t try to ruin it, keep it simple.”

 Luciano Lastrina, Owner, Kensington Market

In 1997, in a building with a 100 year history (including 71 years as Victory Market) in Berlin, Luciano Lastrina opened Kensington Market at 1014 Farmington Avenue. His dream was to operate a food business where customers would be greeted with smiles and made to feel comfortable. Within three years, business increased and expanded. Lastrina realized he had to get a partner. Sebastian Scalora became half of the team that has made Kensington Market one of the most pleasant places to shop in Berlin.

In February 2024, the market was severely damaged in an overnight fire that started in the walls.  Smoke and water damage as well as the destruction of much of the equipment rendered the Market unable to open and it took over ten months for Kensington Market to rebuild and eventually re-open. During that time, Sebastian made the decision to retire, leaving Luciano again as the sole owner of the Market. When the business re-opened, many changes had been made including the addition of kitchen space, the layout of the floor space, the addition and removal of some product lines and the expansion of the hot bar, deli cases and meat case. Additionally, the facade of the building and the staircase were updated.

Today, we continue to operate under the original and simple concept – to provide quality food and groceries for great prices with a smile and a friendly face.  We offer the very best of local and Italian brands for our groceries and source our meat and seafood from the freshest sources.  We partner with local businesses like Sanremo Bakery for our fresh baked bread.  We give back to our community and have grown to consider many of our customers as family. 

We are just that type of business.  

Photo Credits – Berlin Volunteer Fire Department

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