Otter Kreek Tackle in Thornfield has new owners, and the cafe has reopened
Times photo/Jessi Dreckman Kevin and Janice Lessard are the new owners of Otter Kreek Tackle and Cafe. The Lessards, along with son Gabriel, moved to Theodosia this spring and took over ownership of Otter Kreek Tackle and Cafe in Thornfield on May 18.
The store still features much of the same fishing tackle and supplies that it has gained a reputation for under ownership of Kevin and Sherri Robertson.
New owner Kevin Lessard, far right, chats with customers and former owner Kevin Robertson, with his back to the camera. The shop features a few tables for cafe diners to sit at and eat.
Editor’s note: The Times offers free news articles for new Ozark County businesses or businesses that have new owners. If you have opened a new business and are interested in being featured, contact Editor Jessi Dreckman at jessi@ozarkcountytimes.com or by calling the Times office at 417-679-4641.
Kevin, Janice and Gabriel Lessard moved to Ozark County this spring, purchasing a home in Theodosia and also buying Thornfield’s Otter Kreek Tackle from longtime owners Sherri and Kevin Robertson, who had owned the place for 18 years.
As part of the change over, the Lessards have continued the tackle business it’s well known for and brought back the in-house cafe, which the Robertsons operated for the first four years of their ownership before shutting the kitchen down and focusing solely on fishing tackle and gear instead.
The cafe
The cafe now offers breakfast and lunch.
Breakfast includes a variety of biscuits and gravy, eggs, hashbrowns, breakfast meats, toast and biscuits. One popular breakfast option, the “hay stack,” features a half-order of biscuits and gravy over hashbrowns which is influenced by Kevin Lessard’s favorite breakfast, he says.
“It was at Philz Coffee Shop in Montclair, California. I spent 30 years trying to reproduce the gravy just right, and I think I’ve got it down. It’s a sausage, peppered gravy that is just great,” he said.
Lunch options at the cafe include burgers, chicken tenders, BLTs, grilled cheese, fries, onion rings and other sides. A few tables are available inside the shop for dine-in customers.
The breakfast and lunch lineup gives Thornfield residents, visitors and passers through additional meal options. Paired with the February reopening of the Little North Fork Country Store, located just across the street, which serves up homemade pizzas and other meal options, the dining variety in Thornfield has really increased this year.
The Otter Kreek tackle shop sells quality branded fishing rods, reels, tackle and just about anything else a fisherman might want, Lessard says.
A move to a slower pace of life
The Lessard family lived in southern California until 2011 when they moved to a small little town outside Austin, Texas, which they enjoyed.
After spending five years in Texas, the family moved back to California to help care for Kevin’s aging parents at their end of life. His mom died three and a half years ago, and his father died in February, he says.
“We weren’t happy living in California, and we knew we wanted to be in Missouri somewhere. We were looking all over the state for a home and business through our realtor. We actually almost purchased a motel in Unionville, all the way up north near the Iowa border. But during our closing we found out there were a lot of issues and things that hadn’t been discovered during the inspections,” Lessard explained.
The work would have amounted to more than $80,000 in repairs, causing the closing to fall through.
The Lessard’s realtor was on the hunt again. At the time the Lessards were looking for a home, there were none for sale in the Thornfield area that fit their family and budget, but they did find a home to purchase about 15 minutes away in Theodosia.
They moved soon afterward, and took over ownership of Otter Kreek on May 18.
Now settled into their Ozark County home and running the business throughout the summer, the Lessard family is enjoying the slow pace of life the Ozarks affords and the friendly faces of Thornfield neighbors and those visiting the area for recreation.
Although the Robertsons aren’t behind the counter at the tackle shop, Kevin says he and wife Sherri have no plans of moving outside Ozark County - and instead will be spending their time enjoying more of it.
More information
Otter Kreek Tackle and Cafe, located at 11781 State Highway 95 in Thornfield, is open from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday for its summer hours. The cafe closes at 2 p.m. Otter Kreek Tackle and Cafe will be open 7 days a week in the fall.
Call Otter Kreek at 417-265-3860, visit their Facebook page or email the Lessards at otterkreek@gmail.com for more information.