Page 16 - BusinessWest May 29, 2023

Bill Fletcher adds some wood to one of the barbecue pits at his new restaurant in Longmeadow, one of his many responsibilities as pitmaster.
Society. “They were all-weekend-long things, and they were a party.” He fared well against those rivals, winning enough prize money
— and accolades — to convince him to bid farewell to advertising, sell his share of the company, and use the proceeds to open Fletch- er’s Brooklyn BBQ in its namesake borough of New York City.
Skipping ahead a few chapters in this intriguing story — we’ll
go back and fill in the gaps later — he has opened Fletcher’s BBQ Shop & Steakhouse at the site of the former Rinaldi’s in Longmead- ow. It was an almost-two-year journey from conceptualization of this
enterprise to the first day of operation on April 30, and it was a difficult process, he told BusinessWest.
But just a few weeks in, he’s already seeing the fruits of his considerable labor.
The new restaurant drew large crowds open- ing weekend, which became a learning experi- ence on many levels when it came to what people liked — and what he needs to cook more of moving forward.
“We’re still learning the cadence — what sells,” he explained. “We were selling out early of a lot of stuff, which is a unique and tricky thing with barbe- cue, because it takes forever to cook it, so whatever I had is all I had — you can’t make more.”
Overall, Fletcher is off to a solid start, but, lim- ited by staffing issues, as most all restaurants are, he is easing his way into the local restaurant, and not by choice.
Indeed, his original plan was to be open for lunch and dinner seven days a week. For now, it’s just dinner, Thursday through Monday — Mondays, because few of the area’s restaurants are open that day.
“That’s OK ... it’s nice to start off slow,” he said. “We can make sure we’re doing everything right.” For this issue and its annual Restaurant Guide, BusinessWest
talked with Fletcher about the road to his new venture on Long- meadow Street and where he believes that road will take him.
Taking it Slow
As he talked with BusinessWest about his venture at one of the front tables in the bar area of the restaurant, Fletcher took a quick break to tend to the fires in the two barbecue pits in the kitchen.
As he opened the bottom door to one of them to add more wood (sugar maple and red oak), he said simply, “I’m the pitmaster — this is my job.”
Actually, it’s just one of many, he said, as he showed off five
“I realized that
I was spending
all my time thinking about barbecue and
not being a good president and leader of my crew in advertising.
So I spoke to my partner and said it was time for me to get out; I decided I wanted to make this my career.”
Nominate Someone Today!
Deadline: July 21, 2023
CORP6ORATE DISCOUNT PROGRAM Enroll Your company online at zairportparking.com and save money
.95
per day
plus tax and access fees
on airport parking for your traveling employees.
$
Enroll in our ZAP Rewards Program for to earn points from business travel and redeem points for free parking when traveling for leisure.
7th Day is Always FREE!
3 International Drive, East Granby, CT 06026 | 860.653.7667 | zairportparking.com
16 MAY 29, 2023 << RESTAURANT GUIDE >>
BusinessWest