Municipal officials from the township of North Dundas joined staff members and owners as Les Winters and Jamie Scharf cut the ribbon, officially opening Fat Les’s Pub & Poutinerie on May 7. Thompson Goddard Photo
CHESTERVILLE – Fat Les’s Pub & Poutinerie, located at the corner of Main and Queen Streets, opened its doors to the public on Mon., May 9.
Co-owned by Les and Rhonda Winters and Jamie and Carrie Scharf, Les explained the Chesterville location is their “first ever eat in restaurant.” They will be offering in-house dining as well as take-out available by calling 613-448-1222.
Head chef and manager Dennis Marion mentioned the business has two dining areas, a pub-style dining room as well as a family style dining room which includes an ice cream parlour and in-house baked goods for sale.
Marion explained the menu will feature Canadian and Italian style food, with some special menu items for the Chesterville location. These include chicken cordon blue, Cajun style chicken sandwich, salt and vinegar fish sandwich, ground chuck slider burgers and The Chesterville. Marion described The Chesterville as a fried batter chicken breast, finished off in the oven with barbecue sauce, dressed with cheddar cheese and bacon and served on a specialty bun.
Carrie remarked how she was “nervous and excited” on opening day, mentioning there was a lot of work done to prepare the restaurant for the opening. She thanked Balloon Babes, out of South Stormont, for creating the beautiful outside balloon display, with co-owner Les commenting how he “can’t wait to fill the house.”
In attendance at the event was North Dundas Mayor Tony Fraser, councillors Gary Annable and Theresa Bergeron as well as economic development and communications officer Stephen Mann. During the ceremony, Fraser presented the owners with a congratulatory plaque and wished them every success.
Carolyn Thompson Goddard, grew up in Chesterville and attended North Dundas District High School. After completing her BA in Political Science at Carleton University she has worked as a medical secretary and library technician. In 2020 she graduated from Algonquin College with a diploma in Journalism and has been a reporter and column writer for The Chesterville Record for over 10 years.