#FOOD: BAR LES INCOMPETENTS

Meet Les Incompetents, the sister restaurant to Michelin-recommended Fat Rabbit, which opened in late 2025 inside the historic Lincoln Theatre at 386 St. Paul Street in St. Catharines.

A menu shaped by the sea and seasons

Where Fat Rabbit is built on land with whole-animal butchery, Les Incompétents looks to the sea this spring with Canadian snow crab, BC spot prawns, East Coast oysters, lake trout, and a wine list spanning French classics and Niagara producers. Owen Walker of Quetzal and El Rey designed the cocktail program, which features spirits from Dillon’s Small Batch Distillers.

“I grew up pulling crabs right out of the ocean with my dad. All familial celebrations revolved around seafood. Whole salmon on the BBQ, BC spot prawns, and Dungeness crab were all I ever asked for on my birthday every year.” — Chef Zach Smith

It is the kind of place where you order oysters, drink something chilled, and stay much longer than you planned.

Current must-try dishes include:
-Lobster Tiradito, orange-coconut lèche de Tigre, xo sauce, crispy leeks
-Hamachi tartelette, green goddess, citrus, wasabi
-Puttanesca tartine, yellowfin tuna, caramelized onion, black olive, tomato vinaigrette, cantabrian anchovy
-Charcoal grilled seabream, squash, nduja
-Baked oysters, escargot, vadouvan curry, crème fraiche
-Secreto frites, cafe de Paris, red wine jus, dijonaise

The Wine and Cocktails

Sommelier Lexi Wolkowski leads the wine program, with a list that spans French classics and Niagara producers. “From Chablis and Jura to small local vineyards, we built a list that feels both familiar and curious. These wines make you want to talk about
them,” says Wolkowski.

The cocktail program is by Owen Walker (Quetzal, El Rey), with classic technique, house-made infusions, and a menu that also changes with the season. Crowd-pleasers include the Wet Bandit Martini, Incompetents Negroni #2 and Long Coffee Drink.

Walker is joined by Geoff Dillon and Adam D’Intino of Dillon’s Small Batch Distillers, adding a local spirits connection to the program.

The Team

Zach Smith, Executive Chef and Partner
Bee Lim, Partner
Adam D’Intino, Partner
Owen Walker, Cocktail Program, Partner
Geoff Dillon, Partner
Julio Guerra, Chef de Cuisine
Lexi Wolkowski, Sommelier
Emily Walker, General Manager
Stuart Laidlaw, Bar Manager

More here.

#FOOD: FAT RABBIT UNVEILS REDESIGNED DINING ROOM

Fat Rabbit, the whole-animal butcher shop and restaurant that has redefined dining in Niagara, is expanding. This May, the Michelin-recommended St. Catharines institution is unveiling a redesigned and enlarged dining room, the work of Brett Paulin Design, alongside large-format, family-style dining experiences built for the groups and big-table moments the new space was built to hold.

The expansion does not change what Fat Rabbit is but will give more diners a seat atthe table where it happens.

A Butcher’s Restaurant, Built to Last

Since opening in November 2023, Fat Rabbit has practiced whole animal butchery one way: whole animals in, nothing wasted, menus that follow what the farms and the seasons provide.

Fat Rabbit has become one of Canada’s most distinctive dining rooms, a place where house-made charcuterie and nose-to-tail cooking share one menu. Chef and co-founder Zach Smith’s ambition is to build restaurants that still matter in twenty years.

“We wanted to make the kind of place where you can feel the craft in the room. The farmers, the animals, the person across the table. It’s all the same conversation,” says Smith.

Designed With Care

The expanded dining room, conceived by designer Brett Paulin of Brett Paulin Design, reflects Fat Rabbit’s craft and hospitality through space and texture. Cherry wood, warm oak paneling, handmade joinery, and diffused lighting create an intimate but welcoming atmosphere.

“Each surface, piece of furniture, and detail were considered. The intended effect is to create a room where people feel loved and taken care of, a place to celebrate and share an amazing meal,” explained Paulin.

The expanded space will include a private dining room for groups of 10 to 20 guests.

What’s On The Menu?
Smith is launching a new series of large-format, family-style dining experiences built around whole animals and the kind of meal that takes up the whole table and most of the evening. Expect whole roasted cuts, aged beef, and the house charcuterie program, each menu pulling from whatever is butchered and at its best that week.

The summer menu features five distinct family-style experiences:

● 4-Course Dinner: house charcuterie, beef tartare, grilled beef with peppercorn
sauce, sticky toffee dessert
● Suckling Pig Dinner: whole suckling pig with three seasonal vegetable dishes
and dessert
● Prime Rib Dinner: slow-roasted prime rib with glazed carrots, creamed spinach,
and horseradish mashed potatoes
● Porchetta Roast Dinner: herb-seasoned roast with seasonal vegetables
● Roasted Lamb Shoulder Dinner: slow-roasted lamb shoulder with seasonal
accompaniments

The new space also includes a private dining room for groups of 10 to 20, with sight lines into the main dining room for special occasions and private gatherings.

The Team Behind The Rabbit
Chef Zach Smith has spent more than two decades in professional kitchens, including four years as Chef de Cuisine at Toronto’s Bar Raval, before relocating to Niagara in 2020.

He opened Fat Rabbit in 2023 with Head Butcher Justin, who runs the restaurant’s zero-waste butchery and charcuterie program, and General Manager Emily Walker, who leads front-of-house operations.

Smith is also the Executive Chef and Partner of Bar Les Incompétents, a French-ish bar and restaurant on St. Paul Street in St. Catharines that opened in late 2025. In early 2026, he returned as Executive Chef and Co-Owner of Bar Raval in Toronto, a role he currently holds while remaining based in Niagara.

About Fat Rabbit

Fat Rabbit is a whole-animal butcher shop and restaurant at 34 Geneva Street in downtown St. Catharines, Ontario. Opened in November 2023, the restaurant runs on a zero-waste butchery model: every animal is sourced whole from regional farms practicing regenerative agriculture, butchered in-house, and used in full from the charcuterie case to the final plate. Fat Rabbit holds a Michelin Guide recommendation (2024–2025), a ranking on Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants, no. 8 placement on Air Canada enRoute’s Best New Restaurants in Canada (2024), and a spot on the World’s 101 Best Steak Restaurants.

Location & Hours

FAT RABBIT
34 Geneva St.
St. Catharines, ON L2R 4M4
fat-rabbit.ca
Tuesday–Thursday: 11 a.m.–9 p.m.
Friday: 11 a.m.–10 p.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m.–10 p.m
Sunday: 10 a.m.–9 p.m.
Monday: Closed