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The statement says Fuller died peacefully, surrounded by his family.

Ian Tostenson, president and CEO of the B.C. Restaurant and Food Services Association, says Fuller was a trendsetter who changed the entire Canadian restaurant landscape by creating a new business model.

“His influence was massive,” he said. “No one had done upscale casual dining in the concept of a chain restaurant before — and to have consistent quality is amazing.”

Along with Earls, Fuller’s fingerprints can be found on the menus of a number of other Canadian restaurant chains.

In 1992, he helped his son Jeff start the Joey chain, which now numbers 28 restaurants across North America.

The Fuller family also has a partial ownership in the Cactus Club chain, which was started in 1988 by Richard Jaffray and Scott Morison, a pair of former Earls servers. Morison later started Browns Restaurant Group, which is a competitor to both Earls and Cactus Club.

Fuller’s death cast a bit of shadow on Monday’s induction gala for the B.C. Restaurant Hall of Fame. Fuller was among the hall’s first inductees in 2005.

“Earls set food trends. Earls set beverage trends. They did things like sending their chefs on culinary adventures around the world and bringing back inspired cuisine. They taught us about wine, they taught us about food and they taught us about service,” Tostenson said.

“Without Bus, the restaurant business would be a lot different from the one we know today.”

Vancouver Sun wine critic Anthony Gismondi called Fuller a “giant” in the food and beverage industry.

“Bus Fuller was the real deal. No one cared more about his customers than Bus, and he instilled that throughout every restaurant venture he was involved with during his lifetime,” said Gismondi.

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