‘I just had this crazy idea’
Anthony Bell set up Fresh Fuel ten years ago – and it’s gone from strength-to-strength
It was almost exactly ten years ago when Anthony Bell had decided he’d had enough.
Growing up in Ancoats and Moston, he had become tired of the food options available living outside of the city centre. Street food, he says, ‘wasn’t really much of a concept back then’, and he was bored with visiting the same Chinese, Caribbean and Indian takeaways whenever he fancied a treat.
So, naturally, he decided to change that. By opening his own restaurant.
Now 36, Anthony opened Fresh Fuel, on Rochdale Road in Blackley, in 2015 with the idea of selling ‘restaurant quality food in a box’. Thankfully, it’s been popular pretty much ever since it opened and he’s not had to look back. He’s now even expanded the empire with a second Manchester site.
Fresh Fuel, which has become known for dishes like its steak boxes with prawns, its bang bang cauliflower with Chicken and rice, and steak and chicken wraps with sweet potato fries. It’s even a favourite with big names like Aitch and Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo.
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“There wasn’t really a thing called street food when I first opened,” Anthony tells the Manchester Evening News. “So, I just had this crazy idea to do a healthy style of street food that existed outside of the city centre.
“It was not only about making something that I wanted to eat myself, but it was also about having good quality food in a takeaway box. I’m very passionate about what we do, high standards have always been at the top of my priority list. I just felt like nobody else was really doing that at the time.
“I saw that there was a gap in the market for someone who cared and I just took it. It was busy from day one, and we’ve just kept up the same consistency and have just kept getting bigger and bigger.”
Anthony says that with the immediate success of Fresh Fuel, he has seen ‘so many imitators’ try to replicate what he does. But, he also says that he’s seen them ‘come and go’ without being able to make it work for them.
“We still get them to this day,” he laughs. “But, I see it as flattering now. Years ago, I was putting chicken and steak with prawns and people thought I was weird. Now you see it everywhere.
Fresh Fuel’s harrisa marinated portobello mushroom with coconut and lime rice(Image: Fresh Fuel)
“There have been some big corporations who have tried to take us on, and do what we do, and there are times I feel like we deserve more recognition, but we know what we do is special. We don’t need the recognition to tell us that.”
Anthony has no chef or culinary training, but grew up on the food his mum and dad would make – bringing together their Jamaican and British cultures to create different concepts.
“I’ve just always been around cooking,” he explains. “Mum was really big on cooking and understood flavours and what should go with what. I was self-taught from that way of thinking really, and it’s got me here. I have just always loved to cook.”
This weekend, Fresh Fuel opens a new store in Ancoats. Opening on Henry Street on Saturday (August 23), Anthony sees it as the expansion he’s always been working towards – but he also sees it as a big full circle moment.
Popular YouTuber Rate My Takeaway with Anthony(Image: Rate My Takeaway)
“I spent a lot of my childhood in Ancoats,” he explains. “I spent my summers there with my auntie Pauline, who was a big part of my life. My mum died from cancer when I was 16 so me and my younger sister used to spend many weekends in Ancoats.
“My mum was born and bred in Ancoats, so I just have a lot of special connections to this part of Manchester. It felt right that this would mark the next part of the journey.”
Anthony says the original Blackley store, on Rochdale Road, will also continue to run alongside the new restaurant – and has no plans on slowing down anytime soon.
“When we opened the Blackley store, it was a bit of a risk,” he explains. “There was no parking, there was no passing trade, so it was always a longshot. But I’ve always said if you can produce something good, people will come and people will travel.
The steak and cheese toastie from Fresh Fuel(Image: Fresh Fuel)
“We’ve had people visit us from Liverpool and Scotland, and we’ve had loads of celebrities and influencers visit us repeatedly. And they’ve come here on their own accord too – we haven’t paid anyone.
“So this new store is about expanding on that now. It’s a real stamp of approval for the brand now that we have this second location. We can take it to the next level, and scale things up.”
Anthony said the likes of Birmingham rapper Mist, Manchester City goalkeeper Khiara Keating, former Blackburn Rovers player Tyrhys Dolan, Manchester hip hop group Children of Zeus, and former Manchester United footballer Maxi Oyedele have visited over the years – and even has a wall full of autographs from some of the famous diners.
“A lot of people come through the door,” Anthony says. “They hear about us from word-of-mouth and come back because they love the food. I don’t know how we’ve managed to do it, but one day you’ll have a Lamborghini pulling up outside and the next you’ll have a Ferrari. You never know who’s going to walk in.”
With dreams to one day set up a franchise model, Anthony says he continues to have eyes on big things but will never forget about what made Fresh Fuel popular in the first place.
The new Fresh Fuel venue in Ancoats opens this weekend(Image: Fresh Fuel)
“Obviously, I’m a little nervous because the Blackley store is everything I’ve known for ten years. But I’m excited to see something I’ve worked so hard on become bigger each day. I want to see it in Newcastle and Wales, I want to see it all over the place.
“But we will never cut on quality to save on money. The quality of our food has been one of our big selling factors ever since day one and that will never change. The quality has to be there.
“We could quite easily change to a cheaper cut of steak but we know that it just wouldn’t be the same. You see a lot of places really fail when they start to cut corners and it’s something I just can’t bring myself to do.
“I’ve not rushed this, I’ve taken the time to make sure it’s just right and establish ourselves – and we’re going to make sure we do everything properly. That’s what it’s always been about.”
Fresh Fuel is on Rochdale Road in Blackley and Henry Street in Ancoats.
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