Page 15 - BusinessWest May 29, 2023

Smoke Show
For Bill Fletcher, Barbecue Is Community — and a Livelihood
BY GEORGE O’BRIEN
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“We were selling out early of a lot of stuff, which
is a unique and tricky thing with barbecue, because it takes forever
to cook it, so whatever I had isallIhad—you can’t make more.”
Unlike many people in the restaurant industry, Bill Fletcher did not grow up in the business. And it was never really his dream to put his name over
the door to an eatery.
Indeed, Fletcher ventured instead into the advertis-
ing industry, becoming co-owner of a firm, to be called Domani Studios, that eventually grew to 50 employees with offices in Brooklyn and Chicago.
“That was a great time ... we did award-winning stuff, all digital-marketing stuff that was new to every- one at the time,” he recalled, noting that this was the start of this century. “All the major advertisers were still trying to figure out how to build a website, and Facebook was just coming into being.”
But while he was helping clients tell their stories, his — career-wise and otherwise — was starting to change, and in a big way.
“On the side, I just started really getting into barbe- cue,” he told BusinessWest, adding that this interest started small, on the weekends in the backyard, where he would cook for friends and neighbors. Eventually, though, it took him to competitions, mostly in the Northeast, where he would pit his ribs, chicken, pork, and brisket against friendly rivals from across the country.
“I was just obsessed with all that; I would do all this test cooking and travel around the Northeast competing,” he said, referring to the various competitions sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue
Bill Fletcher shows off a few dozen full racks of ribs that are still a few hours from being ready for prime time.
Staff Photo
let’s eat.
the federal restaurant group thefederalrestaurant.com vintedwinebar.com postoitalian.com
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