aside 29 Dec

Fuel Restaurant

Fuel Restaurant on 4th officially opens on January 3rd, 2007 (for both lunch and dinner) but for the inside scoop, read on, below.

Fuel is located next to Gastropod at 1944 West 4th Ave. which seems to be a strange place to put nice restaurants, but let’s see what the upcoming year does for fine dining in the area. (Word is that more restaurants are coming to the area.)

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to dine at Fuel and thoroughly enjoyed it. The food was so good that in some cases, that I forgot to take photos of the food, and in others, I ruined the presentation first by taking a nibble.

Here’s some photos from the evening…

Mona’s Dinner:

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  • Fresh made bread, some butter and salt
  • Caramelized Onion Consomme, smoked Spanish paprika, manchego cheese
  • ‘Sloping Hills’ Organic Pork, crispy shoulder, poached loin, braised fennel, russian garlic, blood orange
  • Apple Cake, apple puree, hazelnuts

Raj’s Dinner:

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  • Fresh Local Pumpkin Soup, seared weathervane scallop, crystallized sunflower seeds paired with the Hawke’s Bay Sauvignon Blanc
  • Warm Matsutake & Chantrelle Mushroom Salad, poached egg, fresh thyme, aged sherry vinegar (I destroyed this one before taking a picture… It was just so tempting to take a bite!) paired with a lovely French Gewurztraminer
  • Duck Confit & Foie Gras Mousse Terrine, toasted brioche, warm shallot confiture (I forgot to take a picture of thisone, it got inhaled, so what you see are remnants) paired with a beautiful Riesling (I was so stunned by her beauty, that I didn’t listen properly when she told me her name)
  • Crispy Rainbow Trout, roasted local organic baby beets, swiss chard, buttered potatoes, hazelnut brown butter emulsion paired with the Calina Chardonnay from Chile
  • Slow Cooked Organic Beef Shin & Seared Weathervane Scallop, wilted arrowleaf spinach, fingerling potato vinaigrette paired with the 2004 Burrowing Owl Merlot
  • Apple Cake, apple puree, hazelnuts

Overall, a great demonstration of Robert Belcham’s talent for food and Tom Doughty’s talent for pairing that food with great wine.

At the end of dinner, Robert was eager to present his all-star lineup of staff including Ted Anderson, former sous-chef at Figmint.

FUEL Restaurant
1944 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver (MAP)
TEL: 604-288-7905
FAX: 604-288-2700
WEB: fuelrestaurant.ca

  • Bernie Klee

    I can only wish Calgary had such a wonderful place such as this…
    I am looking forward to visiting and sampling the wonderful meals prepared by Robert, along with the wines suggested with the meals by Tom….
    Perhaps in the future Calgary can persuade you to open a fine dining establishment in Calgary…
    We will wait with great anticipation.
    Thank you,
    Bernie.

  • http://www.raj.jp raj

    Robert and Tom do make an excellent team. Speaking of Calgary, I’ve had the pleasure of dining at Victoria’s on 17th and they do a great job. Especially Lisa in the bakery. There’s also Opus on 8th which I have heard good things about (haven’t visited), and Teatro which has always been a phenomenal experience.

    Thoughts?

  • http://raincoaster.com raincoaster

    I’m jealous! That looks awesome (although it must be said that Fratelli’s in Kanata was pretty good tonight, too).

  • http://raj.jp Raj

    Kanata’s got nothing on Vancouver ;)