Capital News Service wire feed

Joe Squared draws crowds to once barren Baltimore block

By ROB BOCK
Special to Capital News Service=

BALTIMORE -- It's 7:30 on a Friday night and Joe Squared is packed.

The light, springy melodies of a jazz trio float over dozens of conversations among the pizza restaurant's patrons, some of whom have been waiting up to 40 minutes for a table.

But the restaurant's warm atmosphere is a stark contrast from the cold, worn-down street outside.

Joe Squared is located on Baltimore's North Avenue in the Station North Arts and Entertainment District, a forgotten commercial area that has only recently begun to show signs of life.

Some city leaders call Joe Squared a pioneer. But its owner, Joe Edwardsen, wasn't drawn to this area because of a passion for art or an interest in the area's history.

He moved here because the rent was cheap.

"We had no idea people were scared of the neighborhood," he said. "It seemed like a great place to open a pizza shop because there was no pizza around."

Edwardsen, 31, came to Baltimore in 1999 to attend Goucher College. He graduated with a degree in philosophy.

But Edwardsen said he was "always a cook" and worked in the restaurant businesses in both Baltimore and his native Rochester, N.Y.

After listening to Giorgio Agamben, an Italian political philosopher, give a lecture at Goucher, Edwardsen was inspired to take a trip to Italy in the hopes of studying the subject of post-structuralism.

He didn't end up enrolling in classes there, but the trip wasn't a waste. He spent the trip sampling great Italian food.

Edwardsen returned to Baltimore and worked in several restaurants for a few years. He opened Joe Squared in 2005 on North Avenue, in the Station North Arts and Entertainment District.

The district, designated by the state, was founded in 2002 to attract artists and entertainers into the neighborhoods of Charles North, Greenmount West, and Barclay.

When Edwardsen came in 2005, he had no idea it even existed.

"We didn't know anything about the neighborhood, really. There was no crime, and it was accessible," he said.

Six years later, and the restaurant is nearing capacity at 8 p.m. on a Friday evening.

Edwardsen glides through the room with a smile, guiding customers to tables, setting down cutlery and occasionally wiping sweat off of his shaved head.

Customers don't seem to mind the wait. Some grab a drink at the bar -- Joe Squared claims to have the largest rum selection in the city -- or assess the many pieces of art that line the restaurant's maroon walls.

Aside from its pizza, Joe Squared is known for its nightly live music. Right now, the John Rose Trio is playing a jazz piece. John Rose is a philosophy teacher who taught Edwardsen at Goucher.

Rose remembers when he first heard that his former student wanted to open a restaurant in the new Station North arts district.

"I thought he was nuts," Rose said. "This place was a dump."

The revitalization that followed, Rose said, is all because of Joe.

"He is the savior of North Avenue," Rose proclaimed.

Rose isn't the only one who thinks so. Doreen Bolger, director of the Baltimore Museum of Art, listed Joe Squared as one of the most successful and influential businesses in Station North.

And M.J. "Jay" Brodie, who is soon to retire as president of the Baltimore Development Corporation, said Joe Squared and the businesses that followed helped tremendously in the revitalization of the district.

"They're pioneers. They've persevered," Brodie said.

Edwardsen dismisses such talk.

"I'm no savior," he said. "We took the first step and helped convince people to move in here, but anyone could have done it."

The district has become a mix of both longtime residents and art lovers who come for the galleries, theaters, and living spaces.

Plenty of abandoned buildings remain, but Edwardsen says crime is low and attitudes are changing.

Ben Stone, the executive director of the Station North Arts and Entertainment District, agrees. "More people are willing to come to Station North. It's got a good retention rate. Once we get people there and they see it's not dangerous, there aren't many issues."

Many Joe Squared patrons hold the same view.

Katie Chang, her husband George, and sons Julien and Isaac came to Station North from Roland Park despite its reputation among their friends as a less-than-family-friendly area.

"We want places like this to succeed," Katie Chang said.

"You have to keep your wits about you," George Chang said, "but it's worth coming to. There are lots of unsafe places that aren't worth coming to."

Joe Squared pizza has been named Maryland's Best Pizza by Food Network Magazine, and Edwardsen says it's because he uses only local, organic ingredients.

In the restaurant's early days, Edwardsen slept in a tiny apartment above the restaurant. He convinced his brother, Ben, to move from Purchase, N.Y., four years ago to help him with financial and administrative work.

Now, he owns an apartment on nearby St. Paul Street, but he says he still sleeps above the restaurant on particularly busy nights.

He recently opened a second restaurant, also named Joe Squared, in the Power Plant Live section of Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

Copyright ? University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism

target walmart jcpenney loft old navy cyber monday best deals cyber monday best deals