The Chef of the Year, Robert Belcham Of Fuel & Campagnolo

Once out of his Peace River high school, Robert Belcham moved to Victoria, BC, where, after training at Camosun College, he got his start in the industry toiling at Rebar, one of Canada’s most celebrated vegetarian restaurants. He then followed an opportunity at the island’s Aerie Resort, and shortly thereafter became its executive sous chef. To further sharpen his skills, Belcham spent a year as chef de partie at Thomas Keller’s famous Californian restaurant, The French Laundry, and stayed on in Silicon Valley for another two years to work as a private chef. In 2002, he returned to Canada and joined the team at “C” Restaurant, rising to the position of chef de cuisine two years later. He opened Fuel with one of his best friends, sommelier Tom Doughty, in 2007. The restaurant claimed the Best New Fine Dining award at that year’s Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards. His second restaurant, the casual Italian-themed Campagnolo, opened in the winter of 2008. He is this year’s Vancouver magazine Chef of the Year. Read more

Campagnolo & DB Bistro Named On Condé Nast’s 2009 “Hot List”

Condé Nast Traveller’s much anticipated 2009 Hot List Tables is out. The annual nods to the world’s hottest new restaurants is a sought after cap feather, especially here in Canada, where usually fewer than 10 properties are singled out for mention. This year it was only five.

Toronto had two (Nota Bene, Harbord Room); Montreal, one (Restaurant DNA); and Vancouver, two.

I was flattered to be asked to do the picking and the micro-write-ups for our city back in January, and settled on DB Bistro Moderne and Campagnolo. It was sort of a no brainer.

While I’d have liked to have added Market, La Quercia, and Au Petit Chauvignol (which wasn’t even open yet) to the list, I could only choose two. Read more

Food Media Omnibus #262

Our weekly distillation of who wrote what about food and drink in city print and what’s being said on the local food blogs…

In Print…

Joanne Blaine’s lowdown on the Loden in the Vancouver Sun.

Mia Stainsby gives Campagnolo some love in the Vancouver Sun.

Ditto me in the Westender.

Where Alexandra Gill eats “when nobody’s footing the bill” – The Globe and Mail.

Jurgen Gothe picks his favourite spirits of 2008 in the Georgia Straight.

Tim Pawsey gives us a refresher on how to open bottles of champers in the Courier.

The Wedgewood and Bacchus get some major love in Texas’ Tribune.

High-end booze and the recession aren’t big buddies – The Canadian Press.

And On The Blogs…

The things you must eat in Manila by Tiny Bites.

A visit to Burnaby’s Saffron Indian Cuisine in Chow Times.

HK Foodie brings a camera into The Pear Tree.

Sherman’s Food Aventures goes ga-ga for Memphis Blues.

Restaurant scheduling according to Richmond’s Posh.

Eat, Snap, Repeat links to a .pdf file that details all the health-related shutdowns of GVRD restaurants.

Le Faux Bourgeois gets some attention in Doesn’t Tazte Like Chicken.

Campagnolo’s First Night

I met our web designer at Campagnolo tonight, ostensibly to discuss plans for the second beta version of Scout (due next Monday) but really just to check the much anticipated casual Italian restaurant out on their first night. Campagnolo (Italian slang for “country bumpkin”) is the second restaurant from Tom Doughty, Robert Belcham, and Tim Pittman. Fuel on West 4th was their first.

The bar wasn’t even finished when I walked in at a little after 6pm, but by the time I was done my main it was all done and looking super swank. The whole package has a very modern and elegant feel to it, but it gels better than I thought it would with the gritty block on which it’s located. It’s still not fully complete, as they’re expecting a wall divider and some new wallpaper within the next little bit. Dinner was made doubly superb by the fact that it was dirt cheap.

Curious as to what it looked like while under construction? Click here for a short film.