CARLTON FLETCHER: After tragedy, restaurateur’s future centers on her staff, customers

I don’t mind stealin’ bread from the mouths of decadents. But I can’t feed on the powerless when my cup’s already overfilled.

— Temple of the Dog

B.J. Fletcher experienced a businessperson’s worst nightmare three weeks ago

Her restaurant, BJ’s Country Cooking, was on fire. 

The restaurant’s employees all safely exited the building, where Fletcher has served her meals for 25 years, and the Albany Fire Department quickly responded. Within a relatively short period of time, AFD had the fire under control.

The cause of the fire, according to firefighters, was electrical wiring in a light that shone down on the serving lines at the restaurant. And while firefighters on the scene said the results were “10 out of 10 the best it could have been,” Fletcher was later told the building was “a 100% loss.”

What that means is not quite certain, but as Fletcher pondered her future, she surmised that the prognosis was that the restaurant at 2401 Dawson Road would have to be rebuilt from the ground up.

“My landlord (Dave Patel) has told me he’ll do whatever I want to do, but we’re still trying to figure this out,” Fletcher said Wednesday night. “It’s really not up to me, because my lease clearly says that I’m responsible for my equipment, the carpeting and air conditioning only, and the fire report clearly states that this was an electrical issue.

“But, even through all that’s happened since the fire, I feel fortunate. My first concern was my employees, the 18 people who work for me. They were all safe. That’s what mattered then and matters now.”

It’s Fletcher’s concern for those employees that has had her reaching out to other restaurants in the region in the aftermath of the fire, seeking employers who might be able to use her experienced staff.

“I can’t tell you the calls, the emails, the people who have reached out to me and who’ve lifted me up in their prayers,” Fletcher said. “And some of them have found positions for my staff. All but two of my 18 people already have been hired at other restaurants, and I believe I’ll have positions for those other two soon.

“Things like that – people in the community who are willing to reach out when something like this happens – that’s the beauty of a place like Albany. The people here are willing to lend a helping hand, and I’m so grateful for them.”

Fletcher starts to name some of those who’ve offered a helping hand then stops herself.

“I better not start naming names; I might leave some out,” she said. “But I’ll always remember that these people wanted nothing in return, just wanted to know if I was going to be all right.”

For those who best know Fletcher, who served two terms as an Albany city commissioner and has hinted at a return to public service, it’s hard to imagine her giving up what slowly became something of an obsession for her: cooking food for appreciative diners. It was never about just her restaurants or making a living. The important thing to her was “feeding the hungry.”

And even as she ponders a future that may or may not include returning to the Dawson Road restaurant that she has managed for a quarter-century, Fletcher admits that what weighs heaviest on her mind right now are the regular customers who ate at BJ’s.

“I feed people,” she said. “It’s what I do. And right now, as we go through this process of figuring out what comes next, my biggest concern is for those people – especially the seniors – who came into BJ’s on a regular basis. See, I have done all I can over the years to keep my food affordable. And I worry about those people who made up my customer base.

“I feel pretty certain right now that I will return in some capacity to food service because it’s what I do. But the final decision won’t be based primarily on what I think will be best for me. It will be because of some of the people on my staff and the customers who became part of our extended family.”

Email Carlton Fletcher at carlton.fletcher@albanyherald.com.