Sadelle’s Opens at the Bellagio Hotel Las Vegas with elegant
design and flair.
AS colorful as a palate of paint and as disarming as a golden
retriever, the epitomes designer and creative, Ken Fulk is a man that exudes
delight and wonder with impeccable sophistication. Having a few moments to
speak with this delightful designer and impresario was indeed a privilege. Mr.
Fulk enthusiastically shared his creative vision for Las Vegas, namely his
newest design effort, Sadelle’s located
in the former Bellagio Café adjacent to the hotel’s popular garden conservatory
in Las Vegas Nevada. Working closely with restaurant visionary Major Food Group
in creating culinary outlets of superb quality, Fulk along with Jeff Zalaznick,
Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi have formed a restaurateur dream team filled
with interactive synergy in shaping spaces into dining destinations.
VLV: Please tell us
about this exciting new project here at the Bellagio Las Vegas.
KF: So Carbone was
our first project in Vegas. This is our second collaboration with Major Food
Group and the MGM corporation. We have great simpatico. With Carbone it was
like how do take a classic, almost like Good Fellas Italian restaurant, tucked
into the west end of new York and reimaging that in Vegas.
In my mind it was
Opera, with all these wonderful banquettes where everyone is looking at each
other, where no one had their backs to the door. We placed the giant chandelier
from a Ferrari dealership in Philadelphia.
When we got the task of reimagining
Sadelles, which is a charming new York storefront, I wonder how we were going
to reimaging that for Las Vegas. For me it was a French Brasserie, all day long
bustling with people and activity and beautiful displays of food along with the
classic elements that existed in Sadelle's in New York; certainly our color
palette the blue, pink and green and reimagining it here and centered with a
great bar. We reoriented and created a staircase with a real sense of arrival while
segmenting the restaurant so there is more of a French café scene looking out to the pool and
gardens. The bar looks out over the restaurant and the conservatory and the
main dining room is anchored with centered with large glamorous banquettes. It
is typical Vegas fashion like poof and we are here.
VLV: You are indeed
extremely creative, with many different outlets, including Mr. Ken Fulk’s
Magical World and Dering Hall.
KF: I am a lucky man, God made a job for me. Really it all
goes back to being a child when I would pick out my little blue blazers I would
pick out the buttons and it was made for me. It was about storytelling. As a
kid I was in charge of every holiday and most Sunday suppers. My parents owned
restaurant growing up so that had to do with the culture of it part of it, but
it all seemed to be more about how life got lived. It was important to me that
all these moments matter. I learned the word flambé early in life. When I saw
the word on the menu, I knew they were going to light something on fire. So I
loved the showmanship. This goes along well with Vegas where life is a show,
and everything is ready for its close up. We are very well aligned with this.
VLV: How did you develop you relationship with MFG?
I was at my home in Cape Cod when I received a phone call
from this brash sounding New Yorker, Jeff Zalaznick, and he told me about Sadelle’s
concept and we have this wonderful woman who is going to do the bagels. I
thought why are calling me to do a bagel store but that was not it, he want to
work with someone who understands us, who speaks the same language and tell our
story. I knew the idea of it, and Saddles
is the name of one of their grandmothers. So I went back to San Francisco since
this was before our NY studio and came up with some storyboards for a
presentation and flew back to meet the group at Carbone. I set up my
presentation and said this is Sadelle's. Jeff said this is the best
presentation he had ever seen. We instantly hit it off and we knew we sort of
fit together. Since then we have worked on multiple projects and I have
designed homes for them. They have become dear personal friends. There are a
lot of great designers out there but the end of the day it is about
relationships. Relationships should be treated with respect and care and we do
that with one and another, it is exciting. I truly have made my life up. That’s
how we do it from shoes, to books, to candles, to restaurants and why not? It
has been an exciting ride.
VLV: I see on your instagram that you are a big animal
proponent, especially golden retrievers.
KF: Oh Yes, I am. We have 3 golden’s and a funny little
wiener dog. I am an emeritus board member of the SPCA. We love animals and center
our lives around them.
VLV: What is the first thing you look at when you are
assessing a space?
KF: At Carbone we did much more physical work but here I
thought about my own 4000 square foot loft that when people came in they were always
surprise at how big it was because I had divided it into smaller more intimate
spaces. So we did this here; You have the bar, café and the grand glamorous
dining space with the great banquettes and of course color. Some people are
afraid of color, but I am not. Another bold move was the flooring. We
introduced bold geometric graphic flooring throughout the bar and dining room
and then beautiful reclaimed French oak all through the café and entry.
VLV: Now have you worked on these projects do you have more
projects planned for LV?
KF: We would be well
suited for it. We certainly enjoy this and we work with an amazing group of
people. Yes, I do think we will have more projects, maybe a real 1950’s night
club? Wouldn’t that be fabulous?
