A new craft cocktail and coffee bar has opened inside the brand-new Covo coworking space in downtown St. Louis. The bar's name, Trust (401 Pine Street), is a nod to the stately building’s former life as the Mississippi Valley Trust Company.
Both Covo and Trust had their soft openings in December; they plan a grand opening on March 16. St. Louis is actually the second location for the coworking space — the first opened in 2014 in San Francisco. Both offer meeting spaces and business services (there’s even a nap room). But the St. Louis location is the first to include the hospitality aspect of a coffee and craft cocktail bar.
The bar program is managed by Noah Prince-Goldberg and Rob Somerscales, founders of Artisan Well, the local bar consulting company that's also behind Bronson House. Prince-Goldberg explains, “Introducing hospitality into coworking is a perfect partnership. It suits our mission of recognizing the human interaction side of bartending beautifully.”
The cocktail menu takes its cue from the history of the building. Covo's chief operating officer, Daniel Brian, notes there have long been rumors that Trust Company operated a popular speakeasy out of its basement in the 1920s.
Artisan Well has taken recipes from this era and reinvented them to reflect their style and personality. “Message to Rudy” (a nod to "Rudy,” meaning a rude boy) features an unusual pairing of pineapple and coffee with Koloa Dark Rum, Amargo de Chile, Kaldi’s coffee, a whole egg and house-made pineapple syrup.
"Pono Punch" (shown above) showcases Somerscales’ Hawaiian roots with house-made guava and lilikoi purees, champagne, Tito’s Vodka, Creole shrub and Somerscales' “super legit Hawaiian punch.”
“Word of Guava” is an aromatic blend of Bols Genever, Genepy, guava, lime and Thai basil, while "Strawberry Blondie" is a fruity concoction of strawberry syrup, herbal liqueurs
All of these and more are served under the high ceilings of the Beaux-Arts style building, built in 1896. Cofounders Rebecca Brian Pan, Daniel Brian
The team chose St. Louis for their company's second location after looking at several cities across the country. "Unlike Amazon,” quips Brian, they recognized the vibrant startup community here and knew it was the perfect place.
Trust bar offers Kaldi’s coffee, Firepot tea and quiche pastries from La Bonne Bouche and Whisk. Those offerings are available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the sun-lit public area of the coworking space. The area includes both a full bar and custom-made wooden tables with metal stools.
In the evenings, the entire floor is opened up, including the couch-filled lounge area. Cocktails are offered Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., Fridays 4 p.m. to midnight and Saturdays from 6 p.m. to midnight. Coffee-based cocktails will soon be available during the day for those coworking meetings that need a little extra punch.
Scroll down for more photos of the space and the drinks on offer.
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