Fuel Restaurant Vancouver BC

Fuel, Vancouver, BC
Rating: A

A quick bite at Feul. A seat at the bar in view of the open concept kitchen. Outside of a sushi restaurant, this is new to me. It was quite inspiring watching the cooks do their thing. There was calm. A way they moved. A sense of purpose. A sense that everyone knew exactly what they needed to do and they did it. No tension. No screaming. Did you hear that Mr. Gordon Ramsey? No screaming.
This professionalism translated into my appreciation what I ordered. In fact, I think, added to the whole feel of the restaurant.
Fuel describes itself as upscale regional fair. Chef Robert Belcham emphasises local, fresh seasonal foods. He also subscribes to the sustainable cooking model. I like this a lot. Chef Becham’s speciality is pork and he uses the whole animal nothing goes to waste. In fact in 2007, Vancouver magazine asked all of the local food writers and foodies what there most memorable plate was (they must have lost my number). The winner: Fuel with “Crispy Pig’s Brain”. I’m not entirely sure if I find that appealing. But I’d give it a try. You can read more about it here: http://www.vanmag.com/Restaurants/Best_Plates_of_2007

Back to the food. I was in just for a quick meal, a couple of appetizers and a couple of glasses of wine.

Terrine of Fous Gras with Duck
Awesome. Smooth velvety texture. Huge flavour. The greens and the onion chutney were OK, but this dish is all about the terrine. I will remember this flavour for quite some time. Outstanding. Paired nicely with a Selbach-Oster Reisling 06 from Germany.

The Cures Charcuterie, house preserves, dijon mustard, rye toast
Let’s face it. Anyone can chop up sausage, chorizo, and prosciutto, throw it on a plate. And generally speaking I’m happy. I’m pretty easy to please that way. The kicker at Fuel is that all of the meats are prepared in house from scratch. And it shows in the flavour. Everything was excellent but the standout on this plate was the lardon. Thinly sliced pieces of fat. I rapped the fat around the small crunchy rye toast. Fat never tasted so good. That’s right, it’s just fat and I loved it. Is that wrong? Paired nicely with the Montagu Cellars “Three Barrel” Merlot 05 from Naramata. Montagu Cellars is owned by Tom Doughty, the Fuel’s sommelier. That’s another thing I really appreciate. You make the food. You grow the grapes. You make the wine. It’s a nice circle. The next logical step would be to grow your own food, both vegetable and animal. Now that would be outstanding.

I can’t wait to go back for dinner. Or lunch on Fridays, rumour has it that they do a buttermilk fried chicken with biscuits and gravy. And not just any chickens. Redbro chickens from France, raised organically in Chilliwack.
More on Redbro Chickens: http://ago.mobile.globeandmail.com/generated/archive/RTGAM/html/20090225/wlchicken25.html
Fuel: http://www.fuelrestaurant.ca/