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Fatburger, Buttrmilk outlets shutter as franchise operator Deelish Brands closes

Fatburger and fried chicken and waffles eatery Buttrmilk outlets here have shuttered as their operator, franchise management company Deelish Brands, is closing down.

Deelish, which also ran brands such as wood-fired pizza restaurant 800 Degrees, operated more than 10 outlets in total.

Deelish Brands chief executive Mohamed “Moe” Ibrahim, responding to queries from The Straits Times, said the group will be winding down the company in “an orderly basis to benefit all stakeholders”.

The Buttrmilk, Fatburger, and 800 Degrees locations at Kinex Mall in Katong were reported to have closed without giving members of its restaurant loyalty program any prior warning by a frequent client of Deelish Brands’ eateries.

Deelish Brands operates more than 10 Buttrmilk, Fatburger, and 800 Degrees outlets in total in Singapore.

A frequent patron of Deelish Brands’ restaurants at Kinex Mall in Katong said he was surprised to find that the Buttrmilk, Fatburger and 800 Degrees outlets there had closed without any prior notice to the members of its restaurant loyalty programme.

“After I found the Kinex shops closed, I searched for alternative venues to spend my credits on, but found they were all closed as well. If Deelish Brands had informed its members of the closures in advance, we would have had the opportunity to use up our remaining credits,” said the patron, 51, who wished to remain anonymous.

Mr Mohamed Ibrahim said the virtual credits from the company’s loyalty programme amount to a few hundred dollars in total, and that they are held by a handful of people.

Samuel Sampley

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Driver gets house arrest for head-on crash as she sped on wrong side of highway in Enderby

A BC Provincial Court judge called a reckless driver's actions "egregious" and "a crime" in sentencing her to house arrest.

Fardowsa Macleod was found guilty in Vernon court of dangerous driving causing bodily harm following a head-on collision on Highway 97A in Enderby in 2020.

In a recently posted judgment, Judge James Guild sentenced Macleod to a conditional sentence of one year with house arrest for the first six months and a 9 p.m. curfew after that.

Macleod was witnessed driving her black SUV at more than 100 km/h in the wrong lane, driving towards oncoming traffic in a 60 km/h zone.

Macleod narrowly avoided one vehicle before slamming into another vehicle a short time later.

The judge said Macleod didn't try to avoid the collision, which seriously injured the other driver and that Macleod was so far over the centre line, she was almost on the opposite shoulder.

"It was not an accident. Driving in that manner was purposeful," Guild wrote in his judgment.

"In many respects, she is no different from many people who have been in motor vehicle accidents. But this was not an accident. It was a crime…

"The facts are egregious. Ms. Macleod is highly morally culpable."

The woman driving the vehicle that was struck suffered memory loss, back and soft tissue injuries, and missed a month of work.

Macleod, who splits her time between Edmonton and the Okanagan, was also injured, fracturing her collarbone and both ankles. She claimed she was distracted by her dog getting into a box of chocolates and was upset because her mother had recently been diagnosed with cancer.

But, the judge wasn't buying it.

"I found that her offending was purposeful. There was no evidence to suggest it was other than deliberate, given the distance and length of time she drove dangerously, and in particular, the fact that she continued to drive dangerously after nearly hitting (the first vehicle)," Guild wrote.

The judge said if she was distracted by her dog, she should have pulled over.

Macleod must also pay a $1,000 fine, $300 victim surcharge, and is prohibited from driving for a year.

Samuel Sampley