By Megan Sayles
AFRO Staff Writer
msayles@afro.com
Husband and wife team Shareef Faulcon and Sydne Shaw have brought their newest concept, The Madison 801, to East Baltimore. The elevated cafe, which had its grand opening on Feb. 18, is serving dishes, like banana pudding creme brulee french toast, chicken garlic honeycomb sliders and braised jerk oxtails on the 800 block of North Chester St.
Credit: Photo courtesy of the Harbor Bank of Maryland Community Development Corporation.
The pair are not new to the restaurant business. They’ve been running a halal chain known as Shareef’s Grill for years, with locations in East and West Baltimore and in Randallstown, Md.
“The Madison 801 is a casual fine dining cafe. We do a lot of really nice plating, craft coffees and pressed juices. People can come in, and they can connect to wi-fi for free to get their work done, hear some nice music and relax,” said Shaw. “The food is so much different from Shareef’s because at its core we began with a breakfast and brunch menu. We run that all day, but we’ve recently ramped up our dinner items as well.”
The menu also has a focus on providing healthy options for patrons, something Shaw and Faulcon designed intentionally. The couple are fitness enthusiasts and understand the health impacts of limited access to fresh food in the Black community.
“There are so many health challenges that tend to surround our particular demographic. We try to be proactive and offer that to other people,” said Shaw. “Here, you can get a whole food meal— your grains, veggies and protein. Everything doesn’t have to be deep fried.”
The Madison 801 is not just a new dining option for Baltimoreans. It’s also a product of Black collaboration, from development to financing and construction. The building is a project of the Harbor Bank of Maryland’s Community Development Corp. (CDC) and Okoro Development.
Germano Gomez, managing director of the Harbor Bank of Maryland’s CDC, explained that Madison 801’s space was initially set to be constructed through the organization’s Emerging Developers Program. The free course trains budding Baltimore developers in the fundamentals of acquiring, renovating and renting real estate.
Its first cohort bought nine row homes on the 800 block of North Chester St. Seven of the homes were slated to be renovated and sold to employees at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The two corner homes, where The Madison 801 operates today, were intended for a new restaurant.
Though the seven row homes were completed and sold by the cohort in 2018, the space for the restaurant was not zoned properly. Thus, the Harbor Bank of Maryland CDC teamed up with Okoro Development, led by Chukes Okoro, to rezone the property and finish the development.
Gomez said the goal of the project was to give restaurateurs a chance at ownership and, in turn, generational wealth.
“We have these emerging Black-owned restaurants, and we are becoming known for that in Baltimore. People come to the city for them,” said Gomez. “But, most of the operators don’t own the real estate where they are creating these businesses. You can’t create any equity in your business if you don’t own the property.”
Just above The Madison 801 is a 1,700 square-foot apartment with three bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms.
“We did this so a Black-owned business could live at the site in a property that’s worth over $2 million and go on to have generational wealth from it,” said Gomez.
Though Shaw and Faulcon have yet to move into the apartment above the restaurant, Shaw said it’s a possibility in the future, and she applauded the Harbor Bank of Maryland CDC’s intention.
Okoro also praised the organization for granting ownership to the restaurateurs.
“It’s nice to be a part of a project where we’re helping a business become property owners and work in their own building,” said Okoro. “It also allows them to change it. They may decide to redo the building and create something else because the market dictates that. The future is unwritten, but once you own your building, it puts you in a stronger position.”
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