When Michael and Jenniphur Pasquarello made the decision in 2003 to open a brunch spot at 13th and Callowhill Streets, they weren't the first to see potential in the neighborhood. Real estate developers, loft-dwelling artists, design professionals and a number of small industrial firms too big for nearby Chinatown came before them. But sit-down restaurants were still a rarity. 

"It just looked really tough," recalls Michael, who stumbled upon the future location of Cafe Lift while looking for apartments with his then-girlfriend, now-wife Jenniphur. "When we looked at this space, it was boarded up and there were people squatting in it."

Pasquarello attributes the neighborhood's gritty image in part to the fact that vertical development is harder to see at the street level. Unlike in other areas where a freshly painted row home can signal new residents and investment, it was harder to showcase the development happening in Callowhill, where converted warehouses and factory buildings dominate.

By placing a restaurant at the base of one of those buildings, Michael hoped to draw residents down from their condos and apartments and out onto the street.

"We really wanted to be a part of a community that was super excited to have something," he recalls.

More than a decade later, the pair has created a small empire along 13th Street -- in fact, their company is called Thirteenth Street Kitchens. But as their ambition grows, so does their reach: The restauranteurs now have two spots outside the neighborhood, also in areas experiencing transformational development.

Planting Roots

For Cafe Lift, just providing a meal was never an option. From the beginning, the business couldn't depend on foot traffic given the location. The Pasquarellos needed to build a relationship with the community in order to survive. One way they did this was by being present at the restaurant. 

"Very early on, we were able to be owner-operated," says Michael. "Jenniphur was on the floor. I was in the kitchen. We talked to every customer. We trained all our staff. We were laying down roots for people to really trust us in this neighborhood."

Indeed, nearby residents -- some of whom lived above the restaurant at 428 N. 13th Street -- are what kept the business afloat in its early years. 

"People would kind of treat it like their kitchen in the morning," recalls Christina Moore, an employee of Thirteenth Street Kitchens who came on a year or so after Cafe Lift opened. "We knew everybody that was coming in."

The Pasquarellos opened gastropub Prohibition Taproom across the street in 2008 and Bufad Pizza in 2013. Today, standing at one end of the block, you can see the bright neon signs of all three eateries -- a touch that reflects a desire to enliven the street. 

"Their restaurants have contributed to the growing popularity of the area," argues Leah Strenger, a realtor for Elfant Wissahickon Realtors and board member for the Callowhill Neighborhood Association. "The neighborhood has a changed a lot. There are nightlife and dining destinations in the area now that attract people and attention from all over the city."

The decision to cluster the restaurants on a single block was part a matter of convenience and part effort to support a community Michael and Jenniphur had come to know and love. 

"We were also residents, so we had a feeling that we could use a pub. We could use a pizza place," explains Michael. "There was a bit of a comfort level in knowing the neighborhood, knowing what was possible and knowing what it needed."

Branching Out

In late 2014, the Pasquarellos made their first move beyond 13th Street, opening Kensington Quarters, a combined restaurant, butcher shop and demo kitchen on Frankford Avenue in Fishtown. And recently, the company opened a bar and bistro called Buckminster's in Point Breeze.

Like Callowhill, both those neighborhoods are in the midst of considerable changes. Point Breeze, in particular, still struggles with crime and poverty, while also serving as a hotbed for new housing development. 

"We like to be a part of communities that are just getting started," says Michael. 

For Thirteenth Street Kitchens, that has been a viable business model. But is there also added responsibility? 

The Pasquarellos actually believe that all restaurants should serve as community hubs, regardless of their location. But Michael admits that the new restaurants will likely not recreate the feeling on 13th Street, which emerged organically over many years. Instead, the goal is to fill some kind of gap in each community.

"Mike tends to be a slightly ahead of his time in where he is putting places," says Christina Moore, an employee of Thirteenth Street Kitchens for over a decade. "His ideas sometimes take a little longer than we'd like to get well received." 

In the case of Kensington Quarters, the idea was to provide not just a restaurant but a gathering spot for those interested in agriculture and butchery. Fishtown, which already supports a number of urban farms and locavore-friendly restaurants, provided an easy customer base. At a recent event celebrating its first year, community members came out in force.

In Point Breeze, things were a bit simpler: The neighborhood just needed more places to eat. Currently, there are just a scattering of bars to accommodate the recent influx in residents. 

Point Breeze is also a community that is much more divided by issues such as gentrification, which Pasquarello says he has not really thought about, at least as a restaurant owner. 

"I don't really worry about those things because I feel very comfortable with the fact that we try to open a business that could have existed there then, now and in the future," he argues. "If you can no longer afford your house, I can't say I am or am not a part of that."

Strenger, who joined the Callowhill Neighborhood Association because she has an interest in how neighborhoods change, says that there is only so much a restaurant
can do to account for all of a community's needs and wants.   

"Businesses that act as responsible and thoughtful neighbors are wonderful, but I don't think they have a responsibility," she says.   

In Callowhill, the Pasquarello empire certainly played a role in the neighborhood's evolution. A few years back when the family decided to buy a home, the prospect of living where they work had became impossible.

"We had sort of priced ourselves out of the area," says Michael; the couple purchased a home in South Jersey. "The area was starting to grow in a way that we weren't able to afford to own a place. It's sort of bizarre, because I think in a weird way we sort of helped that happen."