After my visit to Art In The Park, my next logical stop
before leaving lovely Harwich Port was my annual pilgrimage to Bonatt’s
Restaurant and Bakery in the heart of
town.
I had to have my meltaways.
They are to my breakfast what a lobster is to my lunch (and dinner, for
that matter). Like most people who visit
the Cape, I have a list of “must dos.”
To omit any one item on the list is to invite a year of regret and
longing for having allowed such a catastrophe.
Not going to happen.
So, before I know it, I’m standing in line at the bakery,
eager to taste them once again. I hear
the person in front of me order a meltaway only to be told by the woman behind
the counter – we’re all out of them! At
10:30am. How could this possibly be, the customer said,
expressing dismay and shock. Straining
to hear what the woman said, I heard the explanation that pretty much went like
this:
We open at 6:30 and
make 15 trays of them. We also have a
restaurant to run and other things to do.
The tone and inflection and body language that constituted
her reply clearly said to all – we don’t care.
My ears must be lying to me I thought.
What other possible explanation could there possibly be for not having
meltaways for sale – in a bakery – at
10:30 in the morning? It’s a bakery, for
Chrissake.
Then, to add insult to the injury inflicted on this poor
customer, the woman said that she was a member of the family that bought back
the restaurant and bakery a few years ago.
She was in the Bonatt family! As
if to insinuate, well, we know best what’s good for our business.
Then, to lamely slap a band-aid on the situation, she told
the customer that if they really wanted meltaways later in the morning, to call
early and reserve them for later pick up.
Note: my daughter, despite her
vow to never again cross the Bonatt threshold, called the next day to reserve a
dozen meltaways. She no sooner put in
her order than the clerk hung up on her….never asked her for her phone number
or name or time of pick up….she just acknowledged the order with an “OK,” and
hung up. You can’t make this up.
Now, I’m no expert on how to run a business, but how can
they not realize the truth right before them.
Bonatt’s is famous for its meltaways.
Near and far, people know Bonatt’s for the meltaway. Every year, people come from all over God’s
creation for one thing only…to sample that unique pastry that can only be found
at Bonatt’s. In other words, to the thousands who visit Cape Cod, Bonatt’s
means Meltaways!
The first rule of business…provide to the customer what they
want. Period. There is no second rule. If you can’t follow rule #1, you will soon
find out that no other rules matter. If
you make 15 trays and you run out (especially before 10:30am), then make
20. If you still run out, make 25. Repeat this recipe until you have
leftovers. Then, be a good citizen and
give them to a food bank.
Now I have no idea how the new family run Bonatt’s is doing
business wise, but the folks in line that day constituted a large group of upset
customers. Keep that mantra up for too
long a period of time and watch them all disappear. It appears that the new generation of Bonatts
have learned nothing from their family founders. We’ll see what next year brings. Given the indifferent attitude I witnessed,
I’m not very hopeful.
Mark Twain Quote:
“There are two times in a man’s life when he should not speculate: when he can’t afford it, and when he can.”
