It all began in Baltimore in the 1800s with three city leaders who made their marks in industry and philanthropy. Fast forward more than two centuries to the last six years with two new Tampa Bay and a third Baltimore restaurant and gathering spot.
George Peabody believed in the power and importance of education in the lives of others. One of his many legacies is The George Peabody Library, an institute he built for, and dedicated to, the citizens of Baltimore in 1857.(1)
Johns Hopkins was inspired by his close friend George Peabody to use his great wealth for the public good, including major health care initiatives. The collaboration between these men and the institutions they created is the inspiration for The Peabody restaurant, which opened this past September 21 within Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital at 600 Fifth Street South in St. Petersburg.
The Alexander Brown building at 130 East Baltimore Street has called the corner of Baltimore and Calvert Street home for over two centuries, providing an epicenter of banking and business to the city of Baltimore. It was named after banker, philanthropist and city leader Brown, whose family were close friends of the Johns Hopkins clan.(2) It has most recently been a bank, including Chase and Capital One.
Today, the iconic building is setting out on a new chapter with a new type of commerce, while still holding on to its legacy. It’s not about starting over, it’s about embracing what you already have — and The Alexander Brown Restaurant hopes to do just that. The A.B. will provide a historic setting for modern conversation, phenomenal food, and worldly design.
Oxford Exchange Origins
The two restaurants began with the Oxford Exchange and its mission to create something that would cultivate community and conversation. Designed in the spirit of human engagement, Oxford Exchange is ultimately a gathering place housing a collection of ideas and experiences under a single roof. As the name suggests, it drew inspiration from the historic clubs, libraries and shops of London, whose charm and history seem to spark spontaneous social interaction.(3)
If community is the heart of Oxford Exchange, the history is most certainly its soul. Seated across the street from what was once Henry B. Plant’s legendary Tampa Bay Hotel at 420 West Kennedy Boulevard, the space has undergone several transformations throughout its lifetime. Originally constructed in 1891, it is believed to have begun as a humble stable. (Today, vintage horseshoes and milk bottles unearthed during renovations are displayed in the Commerce Club.)
Then, beginning in the 1920s an arcade of local shops and businesses occupied the space, a principal feature echoed in the current design. After decades of vacancy, brother and sister tea, Blake Casper and Allison Adams sought to revive the space and establish something missing in their hometown: a place to belong. With inspiration from travels abroad and the assembly of a passionate team of experts, their idea began to take shape, while the space and its many uses evolved together.
Following painstaking restoration, most notably of the century old brickwork, a design that seamlessly blends the old with the new breathed new life into the space. And, finally, on September 24, 2012, Oxford Exchange opened its doors to the world.
There may be nothing that brings people together as often as food and drink. A daytime affair, The Restaurant serves weekday breakfast and lunch, weekend brunch, and afternoon tea, where guests may be seated in an art-filled dining room with an open kitchen or the sunlit Conservatory, complete with creeping vines and a retractable glass roof.
Showcasing continued attention to detail, the menu consists of fresh, seasonal, signature dishes, complemented by an array of premium coffees, teas, and cocktails for a new translation of the classic bistro. A retail bookstore and comfortable reading areas complement the restaurant. Steven Roberts is General Manager and Richard Anderson is Executive Chef.
The opening led the design team to open the Oxford Design Studio, now in downtown Tampa. It has five full-time employees working on commercial and residential projects, handling interiors for all Oxford projects, with Jordan Winston as director.
The Peabody Restaurant
Dr. Jonathan Ellen approached Allison and Blake to bring an experience similar to the Oxford Exchange to the new Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital Research Facility at 600 Fifth Street South near downtown St. Pete.
In collaboration with the teams behind Oxford Exchange, Oxford Creative Studio, Oxford Design Studio, and Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, The Peabody Restaurant was created.(1)
Alison Adams told Paradise News, “We hope to honor our namesakes through this restaurant. The Peabody has been designed with the feel of the original Peabody library in Baltimore, with more than a thousand books in a half-dozen areas of the restaurant. It was Blake’s lifelong love of books that led to a bookstore in the original Oxford Exchange, and now the library motif at The Peabody.”
At The Peabody, since its opening, the familiar aroma of coffee, the promise of a delicious meal, and the anticipation of friendly buzz offers a reprieve from the daily chaos. It is where the community as a whole comes to refill their cup, both proverbially and, often, quite literally. The Peabody team is headed by Bryan Peterson as General Manager with Rachel Bennett as Executive Chef. (1)
Alexander Brown Restaurant
Final construction stages are underway at the historic Alexander Brown building in downtown Baltimore. Founded in 1800, the building survived the infamous 1904 Fire and generations of change.(2) Blake and Allison had been approached by
Ben Griswold, a Brown descendant, to convert the building into an iconic restaurant.With a liquor license in hand, staff being hired and construction moving forward, Matthew Foody, director, anticipates it will open in late January 2019.(4)
Foody joined Caspers earlier this year to manage the new restaurant, after 20 years in the restaurant business. A graduate of the Johnson & Wales Culinary Institute, he also attended S.C. University. His experience includes The Capital Grille, Live Nation and Coopers Hawk, among others.
“With all the custom work that’s going in and every piece that has to be approved and chosen with a great deal of scrutiny, we’re on track,” he said. Caspers plans to invest close to $7 million in the project, including $1.7 million on interior upgrades to the restaurant, according to the state liquor board presentation. Foody added that the final result will be a restaurant that “should be on the bucket list for anybody who visits the city.”
Alexander Brown’s childhood in the Northern Ireland village of Ballymena, known for its Irish flax linens, would come to shape his early success in the U.S. In the late 1700s he emigrated to Baltimore with his brothers, his wife Grace and four sons, where he invested his extensive textile knowledge into his first venture, The Irish Linen Warehouse.
As Brown’s trade routes grew, his markets expanded from linen to cotton, flour, wheat and tobacco, from which Alexander Brown & Sons became America’s first investment bank. With the help of his sons, Brown’s business extended to Philadelphia, New York City and even London. Alexander Brown & Sons most notably funded the Baltimore-Ohio Railroad, as well as Baltimore’s first public water system. Alexander Brown realized the American dream, becoming one of America’s first millionaires.
When Brown died in 1834, the Baltimore American published an editorial expressing the general admiration and sense of loss Baltimore had experienced, excerpted here. (2)
“Few men occupy so large a space in the esteem of a whole community as the deceased. As a merchant he stood in the first rank for ample means and the skill and enterprise with which his large concerns were managed. His energy was not more remarkable than the liberality of spirit which marked all his undertakings, and diffused widely among others the benefits of his business success. In his social relations the same enlarged feelings made him always prominent in sustaining works of public utility, and forward in encouraging all charitable and philanthropic associations.
As a citizen he was eminently valuable, and his loss is a subject of universal regret. Not less estimable in his private relations, to his family and personal friends this bereavement is an afflicting dispensation.”
Alexander Brown & Sons was instrumental in Baltimore’s booming formative years and was a local institution until 1997 when it was purchased by a national bank. Twenty-two years later, the inspiring history and architectural legacy remain. It’s time to make Alexander Brown & Sons local again with the new Alexander Brown Restaurant.
Article by Steve Traiman
All photos courtesy of Oxford Exchange / Alyssa Rosenheck
[Editor’s Note: Special thanks to Jess Anderson, Director of retail, Oxford Exchange and Allison Adams, (1) Peabodyrestaurant.com, (2) Alexanderbrownrestaurant.com, (3) OxfordExchange.com, (4) BaltimoreBusinessJournal.com, for their excellent comments and background.]
[Steve Traiman is President of Creative Copy by Steve Traiman in St. Pete Beach, offering freelance business writing services. He can be reached via email at traimancreativecopy@gmail.com]