After being closed for several months, Vert Fouchette in Vankleek Hill is open with an expanded outdoor patio, special menu events and a new Wednesday evening pub-style menu.
Located on the town’s Main Street, Vert Fourchette reopened on July 4 and since then has been serving customers on its outdoor patio three days a week – Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Beginning on July 22, the patio will also be opening Wednesdays and will feature its special ‘Pub with Flare’ themed menu – including such items as bangers and mash, mini pogos, and the restaurant’s own famous fish and chips special. Thursdays at Vert Fourchette will continue to feature a Mexican Taquiria theme, while Fridays and Saturdays, the restaurant will revert back to its regular bistro menu.
“We are trying to play around on Thursdays and Wednesdays just to switch things up a bit and make it a little more fun – sometimes we get people who come back twice (each week),” says owner Chantal Lascelles, who operates the restaurant along with her husband Mario.
One of the biggest changes diners at Vert Fourchette will notice is the increased size of the restaurant’s outdoor patio, which has been expanded to allow for social distancing and extra seating capacity. The entire patio is licensed for alcoholic beverage service and Lascelles noted local officials were very cooperative in allowing the modifications, otherwise the restaurant might not have been able to reopen due to a lack of space for enough customers to make it worthwhile.
While the indoor space of the restaurant is now allowed to reopen by law, Lascelles said plans for now are to only serve customers outdoors on the patio. Demand for the patio spaces has been high and diners are recommended to make a reservation by calling 613-678-3984 or through the Vert Fourchette’s Facebook page. Over the coming weeks the Vert Fourchette will be making major changes to its front entrance section, where customers have traditionally picked up take out orders, sandwiches and other items. The section is being renovated into a small marketplace and will offer pre-made meals, fresh fruits and vegetables, desserts and other restaurant items. “When everything was closed we did a lot of prepared meals on weekly orders and with the patio only at half-capacity it will be a major hit for us,” Lascelles noted. “We are working on getting our marketplace open, where we will have weekly meals prepared all the time. “It’s going to be a one-stop place where you can get food for the week. We are just getting the equipment in right now and I’m hoping that in three weeks the front marketplace will be ready to go.”
Over the coming weeks Vert Fourchette will be making major changes to its front entrance section, where customers have traditionally picked up take-out orders, sandwiches and other items. The section is being renovated into a small marketplace and will offer pre-made meals, fresh fruits and vegetables, desserts and other restaurant items.
“When everything was closed we did a lot of prepared meals on weekly orders and with the patio only at half-capacity it will be a major hit for us,” Lascelles noted. “We are working on getting our marketplace open, where we will have weekly meals prepared all the time.
“It’s going to be a one-stop place where you can get food for the week. We are just getting the equipment in right now and I’m hoping that in three weeks the front marketplace will be ready to go.”
