Afew nights ago I toured the construction site of what I think might prove to be the most interesting restaurant of 2012. Its a 50-seat Chinese BBQ joint called Fat Dragon.
566 Powell Street is on one of the Downtown Eastsides most unnerving blocks. Sitting half a block east of Oppenheimer Park, its the last place Id ever expect to see a good restaurant in Vancouver.
Fat Dragon is coming to us courtesy of two young restaurateurs, Tom Doughty and Robert Belcham, the very same pair that gave us the two s (1020 Main and 2297 East Hastings). The grizzly, bearded, heavily-tattooed Belcham won the coveted Chef of the Year accolade in 2009 for his work in fine dining at Fuel in Kitsilano (his first restaurant), only to see it close later that same year after the recession took hold. (It was successfully rebranded as the more casual Refuel.) Doughty, a heavy metal-loving, guitar-playing winemaker and past Sommelier of the Year, suffered a stroke several months ago, but is well on his way to a recovery that is being described as a miraculous.
Joining them as a co-owner is chef Ted Anderson, who has emerged as a culinary force to be reckoned with after tours of duty at all of Belcham and Doughtys restaurants. (Doing the actual cooking at Fat Dragon will be Adam Johnson, lately of Campagnolo and Gastowns Pourhouse.) The food concept of Chinese-themed BBQ will see all items with licks of either southern American smoke or spice in an environment reminiscent of a 1920s-style opium den (the designer is Marc Bricault, the aesthete behind Vijs, Campagnolo, and Thierry).
Theyll be serving up smoked and fried Dungeness crab with chilies, crispy shallots and cilantro; smoked Isan-style pork sauages; marinated and smoked crispy tofu bao buns; smoked whole fish; smoked pigs head; and Jalor Alor-style chicken wings, among a great many other things. The price points will vary from $2.50 for small items all the way to $60 for the pigs head. I think $9 to $20 per dish will be the norm, which is to say competitive. Pair it all with a good cocktail list serving the 13-seat bar and a short wine list as clever as Doughtys others, and we have something interesting that will easily transcend the sketchiness of its address.
Fat Dragon will not be a fancy restaurant (Belcham has assured me that it will be the most casual room in their stable), but because it might prove to be a hit, theres a good chance that it might have a hand in improving the neighbourhood. They will be called gentrifiers, for certain, because even though theyre doing what they love in a neighbourhood that needs help, they represent the change that is already well underway in other parts of the DTES.
Politics and social activism arent the concerns of this column. My job is to seek out delicious things, plain and simple. But I have to say... so far, gentrification has been pretty kind to my neighbourhood. Take, for example, Bao Bei. The room is gorgeous, they have an excellent bar program, the soundtrack is fantastic, its always full, and the inventive Shanghainese food is so good that it landed chef Joel Watanabe at last years Gold Medal Plates cooking competition, where he took the Bronze Medal. If thats counted as gentrification, Ill take it anywhere I can get it.
Fat Dragon will open in April, if not before. The installation of its neon sign depicting a fat dragon will signal its imminence, so keep a look out.
