April 2, 2015 By Diane Dorrans Saeks C Social Front
When Ken Fulk gathers friends, they happily arrive at his super-glam South of Market loft, and a recent balmy Sunday evening was no exception. Pals including Alexis and Trevor Traina, Sloan Barnett, Shirley Robinson, Xochi and Michael Birch, Carol Bonnie and Owsley and Victoire Brown stopped by to greet top restaurateur and hotelier Jeremy King and his stunningly beautiful wife, Lauren, who is a specialist in international classic furniture and decor of the 20th century. Fulk met the couple in January at The Beaumont, the elegant Mayfair hotel Jeremy opened last fall with business partner Chris Corbin. Jeremy’s restaurants (also opened with Corbin) include The Wolseley (a favorite haunt of artist Lucian Freud), as well as The Delaunay and Brasserie Zedel. Lauren, originally from New Orleans, has worked closely with her husband on the Vienna-inspired interior design and decor at each establishment.
Jeremy was recently honored by Queen Elizabeth with an OBE (Order of the British Empire) in recognition of his work as a leading London restaurateur and philanthropist, and Fulk was delighted to welcome his friends to town. “I’m so happy that Lauren and Jeremy are visiting California,” said Fulk. “I was recently a guest of theirs for dinner at The Colony, the very swank restaurant in The Beaumont. The hotel is new, but feels as if it has been in Mayfair since the glamorous ’20s. I love it.”
After drinks on Ken’s terrace overlooking the romantic twilight cityscape (the Kings both sipped Gimlets) everyone gathered to dine on fresh pea pancakes with pea shoot salad, nettle flan, double-smashed Yukon Gold potatoes, asparagus with pancetta, roast chicken, and crisp Little Gem lettuce wedges with pumpkin seeds. French-style soft meringue with lemon curd and tiny strawberries followed for dessert.
To set the mood, Fulk’s favorite pianist played Cole Porter and George Gershwin and everyone lingered long into the night.