Change is afoot at the Hancock Market, but with an air of familiarity.

Samantha Rule and Silas Holmes of Fiddleheads Cafe will begin operating the store next month, but won’t have far to go to turn the key, as they’re next door on Main Street.

“The businesses seem like a natural pairing,” said Rule following the lunch crunch at Fiddleheads. “The market and the cafe should support each other.”

As an example, she offered how if the market received a large order of fish for its counter, Fiddleheads could create a dish with it as well.

Rule is no stranger to running both kinds of businesses, having managed the Harrisville General Store for eight years.

“It’s two businesses in Harrisville – a store and a cafe,” she said.

In a small town, such operations can ideally become destinations for area residents. 

“You develop relationships with people. Someone will come in to pick up milk, for instance, and that exchange becomes a social interaction,” Rule said.

Such occasions are particularly special for individuals who might not venture farther on a given day.

“A block such as this can be the beating heart of a community,” Rule said.

Rob Sokol and Eleanor Briggs are the local owners of both enterprises, and Sokol echoed Rule’s sentiment.

“Our hope is to keep this a hub of the area. It’s an opportunity to combine efforts so that, if (Fiddleheads and the market) work together, it could be more lucrative for both of them,” Sokol said.

Sokol said he had also secured the internet domain for the store’s website. hancockmarket.com.

Holmes and Rule have been offering their fare at Fiddleheads since 2023. The menu includes shakshuka - eggs smothered in North African tomato sauce with cilantro and feta served with olive oil toast – and crispy Korean chicken made of sweet and spicy gochujang sauce, citrusy slaw and Orchard Hill brioche. Their passion is “creating excellent food from scratch using high quality ingredients” to build community around a “shared gastronomic experience.” 

Rule's first kitchen job was at age 14 at MacDowell, and Holmes is a third-generation farmer who has spent years working at his family’s Sunnyfield Farm in Peterborough and notes on the cafe’s website, fiddleheadscafenh.com, that he believes in “treating food with respect throughout the entire process – from farm to table.”

Sokol lauded Rule’s talents with food.

“I love her artistry and understanding of culture to create a new vibe with dishes,” he said.  

Hancock is a child- and dog-friendly community, as students walking home from school and a dog bowl out front attest, and Rule said she’s excited to continue to this feel, adding that “local” is a key watchword for them. 

“We plan to expand relationships with area farmers for a super-local focus, such as fresh produce as soon as you walk in,” she said.

Already in place is having a local farm grow basil with which they make pesto. A wine selection and some local beers will also appear in the market. Some crossover offerings are also planned. 

“For instance, we use a tomato jam in some dishes here at the cafe. We’ll can it and offer it at the market. There’s also a sauce of housemade pickles and preserved lemons that we’d like to package and sell next door,” Rule said.

Grab-and-go offerings are also in the works.

“We’d like to help people get a good, nutritious dinner with a salad. I want people to be able to find good food right here in our community,” Rule said. “People have a sensory, emotional connection to food.”

Rule anticipates some overlap in terms of staffing between the market and Fiddleheads, and said she’ll be looking for an assistant manager in time. New management means applying for all the necessary licenses that the previous owner obtained. Small businesses in the region can be subject to seasonality, she said, but was quick to add that they are also a way of life in small towns.

Rule and Holmes are “refreshing” the market, and Sokol said he expects it to open next door to the cafe in mid-May.