Actor Woody Harrelson Buys a Local Inn

The troubled Inn at the Black Olive received an infusion of new life with its purchase by actor Woody Harrelson and local banker Jack Dwyer. The Baltimore Business Journal broke the news today.

I caught up this afternoon with Dimitris Spiliadis, whose family owned the boutique hotel until they ran into financial difficulty a year ago. After filing for bankruptcy, the property ended up with its mortgage holder.

With the new partners, Dimitris will continue to manage the 12-suite inn, which includes a market and a restaurant. His parents, Stelios and Pauline, will handle the family's long-time restaurant The Black Olive in Fells Point as a separate entity.

"It's the coolest thing that ever happened," Dimitris said of the acquisition. "It's very humbling."

Agora café/market on the inn's first floor and its rooftop Olive Room restaurant are open for business. They focus on organic fare. The Olive Room serves dinner Tuesday-Saturday and brunch on Sundays.

Dimitris and Woody—whose most recent venture is HBO's acclaimed True Detective—became friends when the actor stayed at the inn, bordering Fells Point and Harbor East, for seven weeks while filming Game Change in Baltimore for HBO.

Both men share a love of healthful food and lifestyles. In July 2012, Woody, pictured at the time, came back to Baltimore to attend a raw-foods dinner at the inn's restaurant.

(Note the Yankees cap. Maybe next time, he'll be wearing an O's hat.)

He addressed the diners, including me, genially: "I'm honored to be here," he said. "Raw food is where it's at."

Woody also thanked Dimitris. "You treated me so great," he said. "More importantly, you are a great friend."

Today, Dimitris said that Woody "would like me to do what I've been doing" at the inn.

"Every day, I'm very happy, very grateful," he said. "But there is a lot of pressure to make it work."