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MILFORD — During the height of the pandemic, Joseph Fancher was looking for a change.
And it was a random Craigslist advertisement that led the Milford resident from engineering to the food service industry when he opened Harbor Street Market.
"My wife saw an ad on Craigslist from the previous owners of the location stating they weren't going to stay open during the pandemic," said Fancher, adding that he reached out via email, and almost immediately, Lisa Mingrone, the location's owner at the time, called him back and discussed the ad over the phone.
"About a week went by, and we were considering if this would even work because it was during the height of the pandemic," he said. "It was one of the most challenging things we have done, but my wife and I believe anything can be done through dedication, resilience, hard work and working together."
He said opening this new eatery weighed on him. He was entering a new profession, one in which he had no experience, and which offered severe risk.
"But we decided to go ahead and call them back and make an arrangement that worked for both of us," said Fancher about his talks with Mingrone. "They wanted to get out of the food business because they were ready to retire, and I learned through this experience that the food business is a lot of work, and the job never stops."
Fancher officially opened up Harbor Street Market in late 2020.
"It was in July when we signed the lease," he said. "I never thought I would end up owning a deli and working in the food industry."
Fancher's background is in engineering, and before opening Harbor Street Market, he worked with Pratt and Whitney.
"Before we decided to open the deli, we had a conversation if this is what we wanted to do," he said. "But I have started to call myself a food engineer."
Even though he had no experience in cooking, Fancher said he had a great teacher.
"The previous owner, Paul Mingrone, was a legitimate chef and the nicest guy you could ever meet," he said. "Paul stayed around for about three months after we took over the deli, and he taught me everything I know. Every time I make a soup or a New York-style cheesecake from scratch, I tell people I don't deserve too much credit because this is Paul's recipe, and I'm just following the process."
During those three months, Fancher said he would follow Paul around the kitchen with his notes app, writing down everything and taking pictures of every step.
"I'm glad that Paul stuck around because most of the time, I would rely on his judgment and wouldn't have to rely on my novice cooking judgment," he said. "For the longest time, I was a little hesitant to create something from my imagination because I was going off of what Paul taught me, but now, I make my own recipes."
A couple of months before Fancher opened Harbor Street Market, he and his wife welcomed their a daughter, which added another layer to being a new small business owner. A year later, in 2021, the couple added twins to the family.
"Everything happened at the same time during COVID," he said. "My wife was in here with our child on her hip, and people would come in all day, and she would transfer her from arm to arm while I was cooking. And If I wasn't cooking, I was holding Romee."
Throughout his three years running the eatery, Fancher said the most difficult aspect has been handling the ever-changing world of restaurant operating costs.
"Everything that passes through my fingers here, whether it's a napkin, stirrer, packet of sugar, or a cup, is part of the business's cost," he said. "At first, I didn't realize because I would use something and throw it into the garbage that didn't cost much, maybe 25 cents, but doing that 1,000 times will affect the bottom line. So to remedy that, the previous business owners advised me to have an organized, clean, consistent and efficient business."
Now that Fancher has been in the business for three years and has developed more of his style, he is considering rebranding the deli.
"The only reason I'm considering that is not because whatever is here is not working. It's that I want my own identity," he said. "I want it to be branded as more of a family geared place. When people walk in here, I want them to have a sense of community and family because they know we are cooking from scratch."