Bummer. Tom Doughty and Robert Belcham’s Fuel Restaurant on West 4th will close at the end of the month to reopen as a new casual, Pacific Northwest-themed restaurant. Read the message from Tom after the jump…
Dear Friends and Fans,Our 3 year anniversary is fast approaching and we have truly enjoyed the time we have had taking care of you all. Our ultimate goal is to see you all more often, and in order to achieve that, we have decided to make a significant change to our landscape here at Fuel.Sunday November 29th will be our last service as Fuel Restaurant. We will close for two days and re-open for business on December 2nd as a neighborhood restaurant and bar specializing in Casual Northwest Cuisine. Our philosophy towards quality ingredients and impeccable service will remain paramount. We simply want to offer these things to you at a more affordable price.As you are among our loyal customers, we invite you to come and visit Fuel Restaurant one last time. We would truly love to see you this month. The Whole Hog Menu is still available for booking on November 25th, 26th, and 27th and Fried Chicken Fridays will also be available for lunch until the end of November. From the bottom of our hearts, Robert, Ted, Katharine and I would also like to thank you so much for supporting us over the years. We have truly enjoyed serving you and look forward to seeing you soon.Tom Doughty
Fine dining is a tricky proposition these days, even at digs as relaxed as these. Sniff. So long.
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It is a sad day… but also a new beginning. I’m looking forward to the grand-re opening, and hopefully sneaking into the whole hog dinner before that the 29th.
Best wishes!
Fuel finally bites the dust. Guess they no longer wanted be associated with animal cruelty (the foie gras they serve in large amounts – produced through one of the most cruel forms of animal agriculture on the planet – force feeding).
Most people are currently supportive of the campaign against Fuel’s choice to serve the force-fed animals.
So long Fuel, maybe your next venture will hold a higher level of consciousness.
Oh Jeez. I almost forgot about you foie fanatics. You’ll probably all want to take credit for this! Another victory for Liberation BC! The hubris…God help us all.
Hey Jemica, do you know something we don’t?
Have you seen the new menu/concept?
Don’t count your ducks yet…..
Let’s wait and see….
Hey Jemica, don’t confuse the words ‘most people’ with ‘most Veganazis’. Most people would not like to be misrepresented by you.
Fuel has never been associated with animal cruelty. You can think what you want but as an animal lover I would eat at what ever restaurant Tom and Rob create before I would ever support fanatical bull shit. You are doing your own cause more harm than good . These guys on your side and you don’t know it. Can’t wait to see what they have in store. I will eat whatever vegetable they put in front of me. They care, they are small business and you should support them. Shame on Jemica. Can’t wait for a casual kick ass FUEL.
Jemica writes, “Most people are currently supportive of the campaign against Fuel’s choice to serve the force-fed animals.”.
Define, “most people”.
Joining the team just under a year ago, Fuel Restaurant quickly became a huge influence in my life. Tom and Rob are incredibly thoughtful, generous, passionate and intelligent restaurant owners. They truly surpassed my already high expectations. The service is a thing of beauty and the food is undeniably innovative, romantic and honorable. I am excited to get up in the morning and go to work, serve great food and spend time with an incredibly smart team. It doesn’t feel much like work serving guests at Fuel it truly is a pleasure and an honour.
The closure of FUEL is a great loss to the Vancouver dining scene but what the boys have in store for us is a great gain!
I look forward to seeing familiar faces at Fuel over the next few weeks and coming years at the new restaurant.
Congratulations Tom and Rob! You will continue to do great things!
Too bad, I really enjoyed Fuel the few times I dined there. I can’t see Campagnolo sticking around for too much longer either…too expensive for the area.
Vegetarian is Indian for “Bad Hunter”.
Oh, and best wishes Tom and Rob. Sorry, I got mad there for a second.
I heard Campagnolo is going to close done at the end of December and reopen as a fine dining establishment focusing on Foie Gras. They will call it Rob’s Foie King Restaurant
Cruelty to animals? Fuel supports Polderside Farms Inc. who is SPCA certified. We treat our birds with care and dignity. They are given the best life possible (even more then the industrial birds that you in the Liberation Front eat while meeting at KFC) and thus they become the best food for human consumption…….no medications, no crowding, just the best grain feed. Since our birds are also fed sunflower seeds, it creates the most silky livers possible; perfect for natural foie and pates. What’s not to get here?
Hmm so if its true you served Foie Gras, I sincerely hope you are bankrupt.
Hey Scout magazine, stick your ass licking cock sucking pro abuse opinions up your ass
Hey Johnny, suck it. 🙂
I will bet one bowl of shitty basmati from the Naam that the new menu will still have foie on it.
“Vegetarian is Indian for “Bad Hunter”.” – I laughed.
Good job Johnny, you should be a spokesperon for your cause. Seriously, because so far you might be the most well spoken Foie Gras protestor I have ever heard!
Does Johnny need a hug or what? I don’t normally opt for the fois gras option but I’m thinking of seeking out places that serve it just for the thrill of knowing I’m pissing him off.
(Hmmmm….maybe there is some part of my subconscious hoping there is a placard waving Johnny protesting the restaurant so I can give him a little smack upside the head.)
Poor Johnny is just hungry and can’t make a concise argument. Someone please grab a force feeding tube and fill him up. Maybe with some of that fantastic Fuel fried chicken.
Please do not waste your time trying to talk to these fanatical zealots. They can’t even see past their own propaganda. No one tells me what to put on my menu except my customers. And I can tell you none of these self righteous, single minded drones have ever dined at Fuel.
If you all want Foie at the new restaurant, you got it.
I think the lads have yet to see their finest hour. Their rolling with these value-conscious times is smart.
Also, as seen on a T-shirt,
‘Meat is murder.
Tasty, tasty murder.’
Johnny eats penis
It troubles me to see that a thread on the exciting rebirth of a well known and well respected Vancouver brand has been hijacked and turned into another “As the Foie Turns” episode. I would not be suprised if the Foie Farmers are the money that supports the Foie protesters since every restaurant I have ever been a part of that has had these fools show up to protest with their inaccurate information and out of date incorrect pictures have all had a marked increase in Foie sales. Hey put some loud mouth idiot in a mask in my way being disrespectful and watch me fall all over myself to try to do as they demand. Honestly give your head a shake. The Dalai Llama had Rob and Tom prepare dinner for him while he was in town…..How high a level of consciousness do you need to attain before the Dalai fucking Lama searches out your food? Oh and I believe that sticking pro abuse opinions up asses is a form of abuse in itself, I guess it really depends on how self-righteous you are to be able to decide which abuses are acceptable.
“How high a level of consciousness do you need to attain before the Dalai fucking Lama searches out your food?”
Not a question I would have considered asking, but now…
“If you all want Foie at the new restaurant, you got it.”
Chef Belcham, whether or not foie makes it to the new restaurant menu, you are awesome.
Time to go dine on some duck.
Well, as a neighbour I’m kind of stoked. Fuel is great, but I am quite happy to have a new place that I can wander into mid-week for some good eats. They can put whatever they want on the menu, I’ll eat it.
It’s certainly a shame that one of my favorite restaurants to have worked/dined at is closing, but I am sure that Rob and Tom’s newest transition will be a successful one. The owners and staff operate with professionalism and integrity, so all you nay sayers can fuck off. Good luck boys and girls. Looking forward to the new venture. The crew at Mis Trucos gives you guys big support. Right on!
Excellent news! Good riddance to another Canadian restaurant that profits from torturing birds so unethical “foodies” can dine on their diseased livers.
Hey Robert, you seem to eat more than your fair share of food. I’m sure by now your liver is nice and fat and positively delicious. Since you choose to force feed yourself, I’ll come down and feast on your liver if you serve it opening night.
– The SPCA does not support foie gras and was not happy with Fuel’s practices. Ask them if there is confusion.
– although Liberation BC does not support restaurants that serve foie gras, they are not responsible for the recent foie gras campaign at Fuel.
– animal welfare and animal rights activists will be really proud of Mr. Belcham if he decides not to include foie gras on his new menu. Not only that, but they would also no longer be present to protest the practice.
– The Dalai Lama is just another false idol in the patriarchy
– and BTW, “these guys are on your side and you don’t even know it”.
This is not accurate. Foie gras (ducks who have been force fed with 16 inch long steel pipes until their livers expand to ten times the normal size) is a “product” that has been banned in 15 countries across the world. In a few years, it will be banned across the entire E.U. There is a reason for this, and the reason is that it foie gras is considered one of the cruelest forms of animal agriculture on the planet. This is what the ‘fanatics’ have been trying to communicate.
[…] couple weeks back we broke the sad news that Fuel Restaurant would be closing down at the end of the month in order to re-open as a new, […]
Now that you’ve “communicated”, Jemica, can you now kindly fuck off and leave me to eat my foie gras and meat in peace?