September 17, 2018 By MARLEY MARIUS Vogue
It took some convincing to get Ken Fulk, the interior designer behind Legacy Records in Hudson Yards and The Battery in San Francisco, on board for Felix Roasting Co., a tony new “coffee concept” opening at 450 Park Avenue South this week.
“Getting Ken to do a café is like getting Michelangelo to do your bathroom,” jokes owner Matthew Moinian, a real estate developer by trade. “Why would you do that?”
But what Moinian had in mind was something far more elaborate than a casual coffee spot. Positioned between the bustling neighborhoods of Kips Bay and Murray Hill (“We’re a downtown brand, but I wanted to put [the shop] somewhere where everyone could feel it,” Moinian says), Felix endeavors to transform the tired ritual of getting coffee into an event worth getting out of bed for.
“It really matters how, where, and with whom we live our lives, and the situation of morning coffee is a big part of everyone’s [day],” Fulk says. “We wanted to elevate the situation.”
Regardless of the size or function of a space, Fulk’s design process takes into account the same three questions: “What is the narrative, who are the people, and where is it?” At Felix, Fulk developed an aesthetic that has a “reverential quality” without taking itself too seriously. On its main floor, the space is divided into three distinct “moments”: the chatty, sunlight-flooded entrance; the “sanctuary,” where a giant, oblong bar topped with a copper counter reflects a hand-leafed copper dome overhead; and the cozy, low-energy “lounge,” where those with time to spare can sip their custom brews on an elegant sofa. All together, it amounts to a decadently layered alcove for the harried professional in need of a moment’s reprieve.
“[You’re] meant to have a little bit of an a-ha moment,” Fulk explains. “Even if you’re here to grab your coffee and leave, you’re having an experience that’s unlike anywhere else.”
The pair’s exhaustive attention to detail is apparent across the operation. For Moinian, the quality of the coffee (sourced from all over the world, and roasted by a team in Texas) is as important to the overall Felix experience as the temperature of the almond milk (which, along with oat milk, will be made in-house and available on tap); the freshness of its baked goods (from cult-favorite Supermoon Bakehouse ); and the colors of its hand-drawn wallpaper (based on the Arabica coffee flower) and glamorous terrazzo floors (designed in an attractive starburst pattern that took three months to install). Even the cups and sugar packets were hand-drawn by artists in Fulk’s studio. “I don’t want [Felix] to be known as the extra-special coffee bean coffee shop, or the big, fancy drink coffee shop,” Moinian says. “We’re just trying to be the highest quality overall.”
Beneath the sumptuous first level lies a soon-to-open cellar space, where Felix will introduce tastings, demonstrations, and other happenings. Inspired by the great wineries of Northern Italy and California (Fulk, based in San Francisco, previously designed the tasting room at Three Sticks Wines in Sonoma, and various homes in the surrounding area), the downstairs room’s artfully rustic finishes—terracotta floors, found light fixtures, an antique mirror—establish a change of both pace and focus. In a sense, this is the shop at its essence: “[The cellar] will be the place where you dive into all of the hard work we’ve put into the coffee,” Moinian says. “We traveled the world and spent a lot of time, so this is where we show that part of it.” Fulk adds, “This is really the opportunity to finish the story.”