February 26, 2018 By Hadley Keller Architectural Digest
Ken Fulk thinks we could all use an escape. And so, with his latest design, the Japanese restaurant Noda in New York’s on-the-rise Nomad neighborhood, he’s set out to create an all-encompassing, transportive experience—not unlike the magic he conjures with his over-the-top events. “I have long loved the restaurant experience,” the designer muses. “It plays into the showman aspect of my life. Dining out has become a sport lately. It’s meant to be joyous and transportive and even exotic in some ways.”
At Noda, all of the above is true. “You go through this door and you’re in another world,” Fulk says. Upon entry, guests—who visit by (already hard-to-get) reservation only—walk down a dark corridor to arrive at the bar, a lush, sultry lounge outfitted with cobalt blue banquettes and sconces with red shades that lend the space a rosy glow. “You feel like you’ve walked into a James Bond opium den,” quips the designer. There, diners enjoy a cocktail before advancing through a moon gate for dinner.
“The idea is that you have cocktails, and everyone gathers first,” Fulk explains. “Then, the curtains open and you’re presented with the dining experience.” And an experience it is: Waiters outfitted in Comme des Garçons ensembles present food in the omakase style, in which orders are left up to the chef, to diners sitting in a semicircle around him.
Though some of today’s designy restaurants seem to prioritize Instagrammability over quality, in the case of Noda, the immersive decor and the food experience go hand in hand. “The first thing is that you have to have delicious food,” says Fulk. “You can’t just have a pretty space. But I also think now the opposite has become true—the spaces need to live up to the food. It’s an all-encompassing endeavor.”
The foundation of Fulk’s design is intertwined with the rich culinary traditions of Japan—in fact, he was so inspired by the vision of chef Shigeyuki Tsunoda (whom the restaurant owners lured from Japan especially for the project) that he purchased a small stake in the restaurant.
Such genuine interest in the cultural root of the food is evident in his design. “I didn’t want it to be cartoonish or farcical in being obligatorily Japanese, but we definitely wanted to be influenced and pay tribute to that heritage,” Fulk says. “When we did reference it aesthetically or culturally, it was done in a reverential way, but we also took liberties. All in all, it’s a bit of a mash-up. It’s somewhat of a decorative arts tribute.”
To Fulk, that celebratory sense of transportive design is much needed right now. “It’s become a doctrine for us, this new aesthetic movement that recognizing the spaces we conduct our lives in are important and matter and lift us up,” he says. “As our lives get more hectic and we’re so hyper-connected, and the world seems mad, it’s great to recognize these experiences. With the restaurant, you’re taking people off the gritty street and into this kind of Alice in Wonderland experience. You have two hours of this otherworldly time that you’re sharing with ten people, where you leave the rest of the world behind.”
And for all the glamour of his interior, Fulk sees a deeper purpose: “It’s not frivolous, this stuff,” he says. “Design and decor, this isn’t fluff; these are the things that make us human.”
Noda is now open by reservation only at 6 West 28th Street. noda.nyc