Creeping through the plumes and the smoker smoke, you’ll find some very serious bbq on Speedway 6 just north of the Drive-In. Sit with the menu for a few minutes, you won’t find much to be desired: the ribs, the brisket, the porky collards … they’re all there for the tasting and it’s recommended that you indulge. We’re partial to the Lieutenant’s Original but you can’t sneeze at the Mashpee Mud or the Whydah Gold (which snuck into a snap farther down … be patient).
On a cold January night - just about 6 months ago - a group of us met up for a drink at The Block & Tackle before heading off to a (wildly unnecessary) reservation in Wellfleet town-proper. I had no idea then that there would be themed out cocktails, seasonally spiced syrups, Mezcal Manhattans or Sugar Cookie Martinis.
We sat in the bar and were pleasantly surprised to see a variety of glassware - many shapes, many sizes. For the curious mind of a dedicated drinker, this was fertile ground. I noticed the owner was one of two bartenders behind the bar that night, told her what I liked (mezcal or tequila), and asked what she recommended.
She returned with the delicious Pimm’s Coup and so was hatched the impetus for my conversation with Beth about her cocktail philosophy and the full genesis of The Block & Tackle she’s been running with her husband, Patrick, since the end of May 2021.
BACK WHEN
Beth & Patrick were both working in the Bay area - she as a server at a chef owned bistro and him bartending around the corner. They had a mutual friend so it didn’t take long for them to stumble into an epicurean meet-cute.
By 2013 they were working together in a mobile bar business. They had a 16 tap refrigerated truck that you’d see at Food Truck events, Markets, even a corporate shin-dig if they had the means (and Pixar does have the means sooooo). They’d partner with a bar and sell primarily beer & wine, though occasionally there’d be an instance that called for some cocktails. Beth said that, of the most important and useful things that came from those five years, coming out the other side having learned how to work together and knowing they wanted to work for themselves were at the top of the list.
Here again there’s more of the same theme we see on the Cape, to make it work when you want to stay open year round (and The Block & Tackle, thankfully, do and are), mastering the efficiency of operation is essential. Read: depend on your own, a family business sees less turnover and sick days.
By the time they decide to leave the Bay in February of 2019, they’d proven they can work together, they can work for themselves and they’re comfortable navigating the industry. Where they wanted to go and exactly what they were going to didn’t need to be in the crosshairs, so they migrated back to the Cape. Beth has family here and, before she moved out to CA 15 or so years earlier, she’d lived in Brewster. Patrick had been out to visit a handful of times and always liked it here because … what’s not to like?!
The timing was just so when their location became available. They weren’t looking for a full on bar & dining room with smokers and a wrap around yard … they were debating an ice cream shop at one point. And truly, because it was comfortable and a known entity, a bar was likely at the top of the list. But, as it goes, the place was available, the situation and the logistics were in place and they woke up one day with the keys to 545 in their pockets.
Because they had not been thinking about opening a restaurant, there was that little issue to address. Much like Beth would make natural syrups for herself as a hobby, Patrick, a graduate of culinary school in Sweden, liked to smoke meats in his free time. It was easy to read the answers in the tea leaves - especially with a built-in fix for the terminal housing conundrum. Giddy up.
IT WASN’T ALL BURNT ENDS & CORNBREAD
They threw open the doors … or, correction, windows on 30 May 2020 when eating in doors was a no-no. So they’d serve out the window and start to build their local base. And it worked - very well. They kept the business running that way until the end of 2020, shuttering before New Years.
They took the first couple months of 2021 off to prepare and finally let the public into their heretofore private bar on 01 April 2021. That’s when they pulled the governor and went full boar. Now Beth can start really drilling down into the smaller stuff and, concerning the bar, she starts keeping her drink recipe book. She cruises instagram, follows bartenders, tries some drinks herself (though she’s mostly a wine drinker) and will digitally thumb through pages of drink suggestions until she finds something that speaks to her. Consistency behind the bar was becoming as important to the couple as consistency in the kitchen, so Beth starting making her own mixes as well.
As all restaurateurs are, Beth’s acutely aware of excess, waste, demand et al so she will be sure to have the major players, or some variation, on the menu, but she’ll also stretch out here and there to find something that she can make with what’s in the pantry that you can’t find this side of Boston.
BOOZE ON PARADE
On a visit in May to see the Josh Ayala Trio clean out the tables in the bar and bring some Fillmore East to Speedway 6 - I was back on my bullshit, asking Beth to dig out the Pimm’s Coup ... which is not on the everyday cocktail menu. One Pimm’s Coup, Two Pimm’s Coup, a Mezcal Palome …that last text was courtesy of Patron.
When Beth told me about infusing the tequila with strawberries until they turned white, well, the curious drinker had to have one of those right then on the spot.
She saw my eyes light up, she knew … then she let me in on the chipotle and peppercorn infused vodka she’s hiding behind the bar. Then she let me sample it. First one’s free, little boy - down here we all float. It was foregone, I had to rally back once more with my board and dive in. In a charming bit of full-circle happenstance, a compadre from the January visit was lured back (just as much by Trivia Night as the cocktails, I’ll have you know) and we put on a sipping clinic. The Trivia competition was a bloodbath - but we put some fine beverages on the table that night, not to mention a couple silver trays of Patrick's best.
When I heard there was a thick cut fried bologna sandwich, and a limited number available? I jumped all over that. Coming from that generation who got a packed lunch with some kind of sandwich and bag of whatever chips, I hadn’t known any bologna worth a toss outside of the kosher deli we’d get to maybe once a year. But I had choked down more oscar meyer bologna than I care to recount and needed those memories erased. Short of the options Ariana’s bank provides - I opted for Patrick’s Smoked & Griddled therapy and left ounces from birth weight.
Something Beth talks about with BBQ and why she’s partial to it is the lack of pretense and the comfort it provides. And that goes for her approach to drinks too - nothing is too precious. Even as a wine drinker, she’s doesn’t believe in the pretentious approach - SIDEWAYS can catch the vapers. And it reads like that's how she and Patrick approach their business. You like red wine? Want to drink it with fish? No problem. Have a good relationship with your mother you want to smile about? Try the bologna.
The hero takeaway for me is their Day One cocktail is still on the menu and the one that Beth seems, in conversation, to have a strong affection for: the Blackberry Bourbon Lemonade - what my drinking amigo called a “perfect sour treat.” Beth’s loyal to the drink, it’s served them well, it’s served the customers well, and she keeps it front and center.
They bring the same Flavor Chemist approach to the drinks at the bar as they do to the food in the kitchen. Ultimately when you’re involved in creature comforts out here in Vacationland, you’ve got to give the people what they want. The Block & Tackle isn’t just another Wellfleet BBQ restaurant — it’s a local hideaway for craft cocktails, smoked meats, and familiar faces year-round.
When you’re not only pleased to do that but enjoy the same things the people coming through the door are looking for - it’s that much easier to keep the fire burning. The smoke rolls out onto Speedway 6. Follow it in — there’s always something worth sipping on the other side.
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