Today we’d like to introduce you to Ty Fulcher.
Hi Ty, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
Since I was a kid, I would always play restaurant and charge my family for the food that was in the pantry. I started working in my first restaurant at the age of 14 back in Gig Harbor, Washington. Prepping, Dish, Expo, you name it. I immediately fell in love with not only the fast pace of it but the people in the industry. It is a very tight-knit group that can only be described as a family. Especially since oftentimes you end up spending more time with these people than your immediate family anyway. I moved to Colorado in 2002 to go to school at CSU. In 2004 I moved to Italy for a study abroad program and began to study culinary with the main focus on wine. After returning, I went through the Court of Master Sommeliers Level 1 and Certified Level and began to solely focus on wine and spirits.
Throughout all of this, I had been drawing up plans for my own place at some point, and in 2013 finally found a location to open Social. Social is an underground cocktail bar inspired by prohibition. We have been open for nine years now and it has been one of the most rewarding and incredible things I have ever had the opportunity to do. We have won many awards and national recognition fully due to our staff’s passion and dedication to hospitality and the craft of spirits and bartending. Last month we were also listed as the #1 Speakeasy Style Bar in the US according to Yelp. In 2018 we opened Union Bar & Soda Fountain which is a modern take on the classic American Soda Fountain and Diner. It has been an amazingly fun project, not only due to the development of the land and design of the building but also because of the pure size of the operation. We seat 175 guests inside and then, during the summer, open up the patio to seat an additional 125 guests. It has been an absolute blast.
In 2022, with a group of operators, we also had the opportunity to purchase The Melting Pot as well as Rodizio Grill in Fort Collins. This is a big nostalgic move as I first started working at The Melting Pot in 2006 as a server as well as meeting my wife there.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As with any business, there are always struggles. HR, rising costs of both goods as well as labor, marketing properly, and staying relevant. Luckily we have not had to endure a whole lot of obstacles because we try to stay one step ahead whenever we can. A lot of our focus also is on quality and hospitality.
As long as we keep the quality of our food and drink at the level we require and show guests genuine hospitality then they are sure to return and enjoy each and every visit. That being said, as with most of the world, we are still dealing with supply issues resulting from the pandemic and the economy. We are taking this step by step, day by day, and literally hour by hour as there are so many developments that continuously have changed our operations and inventory.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My outlook on our industry is to keep the hospitality mindset in focus at all times.
Our goal is to always make people leave our restaurants in a better mood than when they arrived and luckily we have food and drinks that help facilitate that. However, our best opportunity to achieve this is through our employee’s genuine hospitality and eagerness to please. A restaurant can have the best food in the town but if hospitality, genuine care, and operations don’t match that, what do you really have?
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
There honestly is very little I think my team doesn’t really know about me, haha! We work together very closely many hours a week. In this industry, your co-workers become more like family than anything else. We go through thick and thin and support each other in and outside of work.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.socialfortcollins.com/ http://www.unionfortcollins.com/ http://www.meltingpot.com/fort-collins-co/ http://www.rodiziogrill.com/fort-collins/
- Instagram: @socialfortcollins @unionfortcollins @themeltingpot_fortcollins @rodiziogrillfortcollins
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/socialfortcollins https://www.facebook.com/unionfortcollins https://www.facebook.com/meltingpotfortcollins https://www.facebook.com/rodiziofortcollins
Image Credits
Phoco Photography
