Hope Ray has always been inspired by the concept of hospitality. She has been involved in the hospitality industry for over 15 years, with positions at Northwest Arkansas staples such as Preacher’s Son, Co-Op Ramen, and Conifer. Now, she’s redefining the intersection between hospitality, meals and local events with the latest addition to the thriving restaurant scene in Fayetteville: Handshake.
Rooted in the heart of the Fayetteville Public Library, Handshake is co-owned by Ray and her business partner and executive chef, Jameson Hall. Ray said the idea for the cafe was to give Fayetteville another option for a “third space,” or a place to spend time away from home and the office. She also wants to provide an establishment where the community can connect over food, art and events while simultaneously promoting the library.
“A goal of Handshake is to enhance the visibility of what the library does, as it’s such a great community resource. I think that the library has always been a beacon for the community, and we’re incredibly lucky to take over this space and bring a little life to it,” Ray said.
Ray’s devotion to cultivating hospitality led her to the cafe’s title.
“A handshake embodies many things, but it’s ultimately an act of hospitality. It’s extending yourself to meet someone where they are. That’s the perfect embodiment of what we want to do at Handshake – not just extending food and drink to people, but extending our space and who we are. We want you to leave better than you came,” Ray said.
The all-day cafe offers revolving breakfast, lunch, beverage and eveningtime “lounge” menus throughout its operating hours. Each menu is curated by Hall, a former chef at Mockingbird Kitchen. Ray said that she was lucky to cross professional paths with Hall, who matched her excitement to enter a new phase in their careers and open Handshake.
“Jameson is incredibly smart, and he always treats his kitchen with respect. He runs an ‘non-ego kitchen,’ so he’s always trying to make sure that everyone feels safe to learn and knows it's safe to fail in his kitchen. I really admired his leadership, and the timing was right, so we took the leap together,” Ray said.
Alongside the cafe’s mission to promote the library, Handshake partners with several local artists and vendors in its Handshake Marketplace. Its offerings include candles, ceramics. calendars, facial oils, magnets, notebooks and more. The marketplace also provides goods from small businesses across the country through Faire, an online platform dedicated to amplifying smaller-sized vendors.
Additionally, the cafe implemented a partnership with Canopy NWA, a local nonprofit that supports international refugees. Handshake serves as a pick-up location for Inspired Hands, a program within the nonprofit that provides refugee and immigrant women with an economic avenue to generate income from homemade food, art and products inspired by their culture and heritage.
The cafe also regularly hosts events such as book clubs, foreign language clubs and film clubs. Ray said she hopes to see the cafe extend even farther as an events space. The cafe typically provides its space for free, and, if it can’t, works to provide a free aspect for the event.
“We don’t want there to be any gatekeeping or for budding clubs and organizations to not have a place to represent themselves. We may not always make money from some events, but we’re happy knowing our name got out there while simultaneously giving someone a platform,” Ray said.
Handshake has only operated for a few months, hosting its grand opening in December, but Ray said that the Fayetteville community has already shown an immense amount of support for the cafe’s mission. However, the cafe still feels it has a lot of ground to cover to make their name recognized across the region.
“Our greatest challenge so far is just making people think of us and getting our story and message across. We want people to think of us when looking for someplace fast to eat or to just sit and chill all day. We actually stay open past the library’s hours,” Ray said.
When you’re looking for a place to cool down from the heat this summer, come to Handshake with an arm outstretched – they promise to meet you wherever you are.
We want you to leave better than you came.
We want people to think of us when looking for someplace fast to eat or to just sit and chill all day.
Handshake is so committed to meeting its customers wherever they are, that the cafe has implemented a catering service. Rather if it’s a small office gathering or grand-scale banquet, Handshake has got it covered. Check out their catering menu at HandshakeFayetteville.com.