Rock Harbor Grill Under New Ownership

ORLEANS – Chuck Konner had just bought a new suit. 

Having recently sold his interest in The Corner Store in Chatham in 2013, Konner was ready to begin hunting for a new job. He thought he’d go back to the Wequaswett Resort and Golf Club or the Chatham Bars Inn, but the universe had other plans.

Captain Elmer’s had closed on Old Colony Way after nearly 40 years in business. Before he knew it, Konner and his wife Meredith were onto their next restaurant venture. 

“It was just meant to be,” said Konner. “I’m not a God guy, but it was like divine fate.”

Konner said he had always wanted to own and operate an Italian restaurant. But walking into what would soon become the Rock Harbor Grill, he said he quickly saw another niche it could fill in the local restaurant community. Orleans needed a gastropub, he said, a place that could service both “the blue collar and the white collar.”

“So when I walked in that door, I saw something that Orleans and the community needed,” he said.

Rock Harbor Grill has since grown to become a mainstay of the town’s culinary scene. But just as timing led the Konners to open the restaurant 12 years ago, it’s also what brought their tenure as owners to a close. 

On Monday, the couple officially sold the restaurant to new owners Bob and Chris Dubis and Amy and Tommy “Chooch” Leblanc.

“I didn’t need to make a million dollars or a huge amount of money, but it’s time to pass it on,” Konner said. “And a good local family bought it.”

Konner, who has been working in the restaurant business for close to 50 years, said he wanted to settle down and get out of the industry before it got too late. He said over the years, he’s watched people wait years before they were able to finally sell their businesses.

“Life is not about working,” he said. “It’s about loving life and enjoying it. I wanted to get out early if I could.”

Amy and Tommy Leblanc both have extensive restaurant experience, Konner said, having worked at various local establishments including the Chatham Squire, Chatham Cut and Pate’s. Together, he said, they have the tools necessary to carry on Rock Harbor Grill’s successful legacy.

“She’s front of the house,” Konner said of Amy. “She’s amazing, bubbly, incredible. Great with customer service. And then Chooch has been working in the kitchen forever. He’s great with cuisine and lowering costs and all that kind of stuff. They’re just so excited.”

Amy’s parents, Bob and Chris Dubis, purchased the building and are leasing its operation to their daughter and son-in-law, Konner said.

“It’s basically a family thing,” he said, noting that there won’t be any changes to the restaurant moving forward.

Is it hard to walk away from something you’ve poured your life into for more than a decade? Konner said while he’s ready to move on from the business side of things, he’ll mostly miss his staff, which he considers family. Over the years, he’s watched many of his former employees at Rock Harbor and elsewhere go on to have successful businesses of their own. 

But Konner won’t be a stranger to the restaurant. In fact, he said he’s looking forward to experiencing it from the patron's side. 

“I’m excited to go to the restaurant and I’m not the owner,” he said.

Looking ahead, Konner said he and his wife have no plans to open a new restaurant. But he’s still a partner in La Bella Vita on Academy Place, leaving him with one foot still in the door of the restaurant business.

“I still have my original dream of an Italian restaurant,” he said.