When it reopened earlier this year, after an almost two-year hiatus, Trust (401 Pine) rolled out a refreshed menu of craft cocktails, with new bar manager Kevin Titus at the helm. Among the highlights at the cocktail bar, located inside TechArtista’s downtown coworking space:
- Freudian Slap: The new tequila and mezcal cocktail includes a little yellow chartreuse, a little turbinado syrup, and lemon juice. “It’s got a nice smoky nose,” says TechArtista co-founder and managing partner Christopher Holt, “and you still get a lot of those more complicated floral notes from the chartreuse and then a bit of a bite with the tequila.”
- Lorilei’s Daisy: Titus is proud to have created this cocktail, which he describes as “almost fully rooted in culinary,” with “all of these flavors that just go together well: strawberry, rhubarb, and ginger.”
- Somewhere Near Manhattan: As the name implies, the tequila-and-cognac-driven cocktail is a spin on the Manhattan. “If we can find a way to leverage something familiar with a new twist,” Holt says,” then we’ve done our job.”
- After Dark: Holt describes the new drink as a “cocktail that has three acts.” The ingredients include Plantation pineapple rum, pineapple syrup, Averna Amaro, chocolate, and bitters.
- Southside Stinger + Pono Punch: Two of the best-selling cocktails were carried over from the original Trust menu.
Titus is also working on new drinks for the summer, and there are plans to host Trust’s first public events. Look for details on Trust’s social media.
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Behind the Bar
Titus, who previously worked with the Artisan Well team (which created the bar’s initial signature cocktails) and The Chocolate Pig, relishes helping customers learn about cocktails and their ingredients.
A willingness to help customers learn about cocktails and their ingredients is part of Trust’s appeal. “For every really good cocktail bar in the world, you walk into an experience that’s bigger than just the drink that you have there,” says Holt. “If you go in and have a new experience with a drink that you really like, and want to understand better, every good cocktail bar should break out the ingredients and let you try them independently. They’re not going to charge you for it, because if you’re excited about what they’ve done, they will want you to help you understand what you like about it.”
Titus says that’s an ethos he lives out almost on a daily basis. “That’s something that person won’t forget, and I think that sets us apart,” he says.
At the same time, Titus is quick to point out that the bar welcomes all types. “We’re not trying to be an exclusive experience, where you have to come in here for cocktails,” he says. “I want the Cardinals game Bud Light drinkers just as much as I want somebody who says, ‘I just came from Planter’s House for dinner, and now we’re coming here because we heard you had good cocktails.’”
A Future Food Menu
For the time being, customers can carry in food from outside. One of the goals on the horizon, however, is to get food service up and running.
“One of the biggest issues we run into is people working their way through a number of cocktails on the menu, and at a certain point, they’ve got to eat something,” Holt says.
There’s no timeline at present, but when it does arrive, the menu will likely include Mediterranean-inspired small plates, as well as charcuterie, cheese boards, and possibly flatbreads. “We’re not going to be doing steaks,” Holt says.
The Setting
Located inside the historic Mississippi Valley Trust Company Building, at 4th and Pine downtown, TechArtista also runs co-working spaces in the Central West End and University City, as well as a studio space in The Grove. Trust is part of the co-working space, but it’s open to members and non-members alike. “Not everybody needs the service we offer on the workspace side,” says Holt. “But almost everybody could use a drink.”
TechArtista initially inherited Trust when it took over the space from Covo at the beginning of 2020. Just three months later, however, the pandemic began. Trust wouldn’t reopen to the public until earlier this year. “We had a good solid two years to pretty much just sit on our hands and figure out what we wanted to do as we brought this back,” Holt says.
Many of the building’s original architectural features remain intact, and the central bar serves to anchor the space, inviting customers to gather. “We have a one-of-a-kind environment for the space in the old historic bank building, we have the capacity to host a lot of people in here, and we have a commitment to doing really good drinks with really good house-made ingredients,” Holt says.
With plenty of seating and standing room, one of Trust’s selling points is its ability to accommodate larger groups, especially walk-ins. “We’re able to be really flexible and accommodate larger groups, which has been nice because as people are getting back together in groups, you can just pop in with 10 people,” Holt says. “People should still call and make a reservation, but we’ll probably have space for you.”
Trust also has a separate events space, which has hosted everything from business-networking events to weddings.
