After working in some of the best restaurants in town (The Copper Onion, HSL, Pago) Chef Andrew Fuller and front-of-house standout Angelena Fuller opened their dream restaurant, Oquirrh, in downtown Salt Lake City in February 2019. Oquirrh intended from the start to be an artisanal community experience: an expression of love, not a quest for cash. Everything was familiar but original, served with grace and gusto and even humor—the asparagus spears were standing at attention on the plate, little soldiers with their feet stuck in a sheep’s milk fondue. Local art could be purchased right off the wall. This is the kind of restaurant Salt Lake was slowly becoming famous for—chef-dreamed, chef-run, definitively local, deserving of awards and stars.
But even a labor of love has to have some cash. And when COVID-19 hit Salt Lake City, the Fullers’ dream was seriously damaged. But the Fullers keep trying to follow the rules. The restaurant staff is down to Angie and Drew, a dishwasher and a cook. There are no days off and haven’t been for months. Any slight downtime is spent planning things like take-away Thanksgiving dinners or filling orders for food they never planned to serve, like a recently requested charcuterie platter.
368 E. 100 South, SLC
801-359-0426
Each year, Salt Lake Magazine editors honor growers, food evangelists, grocers, servers, bakers, chefs, bartenders and restaurateurs with the Blue Plate Awards. A Blue Plate Award is given to an establishment or an individual who has done more than put good food on the table. They’ve created culture, made acts of kindness and education and are paragons of service that goes beyond. To see the full list of winners, click here.
