Robert Belcham to open Fat Dragon Bar-B-Q in Downtown Eastside

by Carolyn Ali on Feb 15, 2012 at 4:29 pm
Robert Belcham is combining his love for Asian food with barbecue.

Here’s another reason to look forward to summer: chef Robert Belcham has a new restaurant in the works that he aims to open “by ice cream season”. For a month or so, he and business partner Tom Doughty have been working on the new space at 566 Powell Street, down the block from Oppenheimer Park in the Downtown Eastside. It will be called Fat Dragon Bar-B-Q and will involve small plates built on Southern barbecued meat with an Asian twist. “It’s East meets South,” Belcham describes it, on the line with the Straight.

The team behind Refuel, Campagnolo, and Campagnolo Roma is bringing in long-time chef Ted Anderson as a partner in this venture. When Fat Dragon opens, Anderson will become executive chef for all the restaurants.

Ted Anderson, one of the three partners in the new Fat Dragon Bar-B-Q.

Belcham is well known for his nose-to-tail cooking and love of smoked meats. At Fat Dragon, he’s bringing in a Southern-style smoker from Missouri, and “everything will have a smoked element to it.” It will also have an Asian twist. He explains that he and his partners have always been fans of Asian cooking—including Chinese barbecued pork and duck—so “this is our homage to all those great Asian flavours.”

Slated for the menu at Fat Dragon is smoked lamb heart larb with mint, bird’s eye chili, and toasted rice.

They’re not aiming for Asian authenticity. Rather, they’ll be doing smoked dishes with Asian marinades or condiments; for example, Polderside duck that’s marinated in red curry, then smoked, then seared. There will be slow-cooked beef ribs glazed with sweet soy, fried rice with pig snout, noodles with drippings from the smoker, and bao buns with smoked tofu. Most dishes will run $10 to $15.

Fat Dragon’s Jalan Alor chicken wings with a Malaysian marinade and iceberg lettuce.

Belcham says the success of Campagnolo--in a Main Street location that many people initially questioned--prompted them to consider the Downtown Eastside for this restaurant. The partners also wanted to “do something positive for the neighbourhood and put our money where our mouth is…There are so many people who have no problem giving money, charity, to the downtown eastside, but not too many people will open a business on the Downtown Eastside. That’s one of the reasons why we’re doing it.”

Diners who save room for dessert will be able to order house-made, natural soft-serve ice cream made with tropical fruits from the nearby Sunrise market. That’s not exactly Asian, nor is it exactly Southern. So why the soft serve? “Everybody loves soft-serve ice cream,” Belcham says with a chuckle. “That’s why we’re doing it.”

Why not?

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Comments (11) Add New Comment
DavidH
Feb 16, 2012 at 11:13 am
Ummmm ... mains priced from $10 to $15? Will that appeal to the locals, or to visitors who enjoy the edginess of the location?
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Bill Lee
Feb 16, 2012 at 6:55 pm
Ah, slumming at the Cotton Club in Harlem.

No takeout for the rubbies.

And pseudo-edgy like the charcuterie on Hastings and Hawkes.
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Sky walker
Feb 16, 2012 at 8:00 pm
Other than encouraging even more gentrification I can't possibly see how a mid priced BBQ joint will benefit the DTES. Just cashing in on the the new obsession the young middle class has with hanging around the neglected neighborhoods of Vancouver.
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Ivan
Feb 16, 2012 at 9:26 pm
The Straight should do restaurant reviews critically... not just of the food but also socially. What will the impact of this restaurant be on the northern heart of the DTES? So-far this area is free of gentrifying restaurants. The closest bougie restaurant is Two Chefs and a Table, which posted insulting poor-bashing comments on its website when it opened and has continued to exclude the low-income community and cater to rubberneck'd urban tourists and investor-adventurers. Dear Belcham and all gentrifying restauranteurs, Pack up and get out of the Downtown Eastside. You're hurting not helping.
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Wondering
Feb 17, 2012 at 9:47 am
Maybe Belcham and his partners ought to educate us on how he views that his business will support the neighbourhood, just like Mark Brand did with Save On Meats by hiring locals and offering some low fare items, while salvaging an old institution. If his idea of "helping the neighbourhood" is by attracting more patrons with pockets filled with coins and more leftovers for bin-divers, there's better!
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RP
Feb 17, 2012 at 10:16 am
I am running out of places to eat that do not have an Asian Twist.
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tobybarazzuol
Feb 17, 2012 at 6:25 pm
some good points here about how mindful they will be moving into this area...I do hope they try and integrate with the people in this community by offering some more affordable options and possibly a lunch menu
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jhane ball
Feb 18, 2012 at 9:24 am
Some great comments, but unfortunately in my experience hipsters and trendy wendies don't like actually mixing with the core population of the DTES; they seem to prefer them as a backdrop for their playtime in edgyness.
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Clinic worker
Feb 20, 2012 at 7:26 am
At last someplace decent for us who work so hard in the DTES. As hard working clinic nurse, I could even see bringing a client over for a meal with prices like that
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jame
Feb 21, 2012 at 5:36 pm
yeah that quote about doing something for the downtown eastside doesn't make any sense, but they'll find out if soon enough if that was a good location or not to be an success. sounds delicious either way though and i'm going to visit for sure.
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Non-Bleeding-Heart
Apr 5, 2012 at 12:20 am
Good... another young, intelligent and eager entrepreneur looking to start a new venture that will contribute to THE GROWTH AND IMPROVEMENT of the city. There's Stanley Park and water to the west folks. The only direction the DT core can expand is East. Trust me, I respect the hard-working people and 'troubled' population of the DTES, but sorry, the world is growing, and this beautiful city is growing along with it. There's no reason why the DTES should remain the way it is, in the absolute prime location that it is. Clean up and grow, or get the hell out of the way. Good luck to the folks at Fat Dragon. I'll see you there soon.
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