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St. Charles Exchange once again encourages guests to linger in the Victorian-era building
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The Victorian-era building has a kind of tucked-away feeling, located as it is on Seventh Street just south of Main and across from 21C. With high ceilings, exposed-brick walls and floors of polished reclaimed barn wood, St. Charles Exchange could be loud and impersonal, but its hard edges are softened by the lush, bourbonhued drapes on the floor-to-ceiling windows and a black leather banquette that runs the length of the main dining area. Sofas and chairs define a cozy lounge area inside the front door. The entire right side of the room is dominated by an ornate black bar with nearly two dozen stools, where bartenders wearing flamboyant shirts and suspenders take their time crafting cocktails and chatting with their customers, encouraging them to linger. Sitting here, it’s easy to imagine you’re in the lobby bar of the St. Charles Hotel, which occupied the building from 1866 to 1888. “That’s the feel we were going for,” said owner Amy Hoffmann Frey. “There is a lot of history here.” The colorful history of the building at 113 S. Seventh St. includes its use in 1873 as a hideout for a gang of bank robbers led by master forger Walter Sheridan, according to the book “Professional Thieves and the Detective” by Allan Pinkerton.
hrough their décor and menu offerings, many restaurants in Louisville transport you to another place, but St. Charles Exchange transports you to another time. Open just since Derby 2012, it already feels like it’s been welcoming visitors since the turn of the century — the 20th century.
(left) St. Charles Exchange’s braised lamb shank with Weisenberger grits, Swiss chard and fig in an espresso sauce.
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