VAULT · Members’ Lounge + Café

The lounge is where VAULT stops being a gym and starts being the third place.

Members come for the movement and the recovery. They stay because the lounge is where their morning meeting happens, their brunch happens, their evening glass of wine happens. That is the retention lock.

The lounge is 1,600 sq ft of interior program plus 300 sq ft of adjacent outdoor terrace (weather-permitting).

Head of F&B hired month 3 pre-opening (or Director of Hospitality with F&B experience if the P&L supports a broader role). Reports to GM.

Coffee program

Espresso machine: La Marzocco Linea PB, 2-group, custom black + brass VAULT livery Grinders: Mazzer Kony electronic (espresso), Mahlkönig EK43 (single-origin batch) Roaster partner: Onyx Coffee Lab (Arkansas roaster, direct-trade, premium tier). Onyx has become the benchmark for third-wave Southeast coffee programs. The name is a brand signal. Secondary roaster (rotating single-origins): Elixr (Philadelphia), Sey (Brooklyn), or a Charlotte-based partner (Not Just Coffee or Undercurrent) for local credibility

Baristas: 2 baristas peak (6-11 AM, 4-7 PM), 1 barista off-peak. Trained on La Marzocco + Onyx protocols. Charlotte hourly at premium ($22-$26/hr + tip pool).

Milk program: Homestead Creamery whole milk (Virginia dairy, glass bottle, on-site sourcing), oat (Oatly Barista), almond (Elmhurst), macadamia (Milkadamia), no soy (allergen management)

Coffee menu:

Batch brew always available complimentary at the concierge station (self-serve for members).

Food menu

Three service windows: breakfast, lunch, evening. Weekend brunch replaces breakfast on Saturday + Sunday.

Guiding principle: the menu reads like a good neighborhood restaurant, not a gym café. Portions are honest. Ingredients are named. No “protein bites” or “power bowls”.

All-day light breakfast (7:00 AM to 11:00 AM Mon-Fri)

• Sourdough toast, cultured butter, sea salt · $6
• Sourdough toast, seasonal preserve · $7
• Overnight oats, walnut, honey, cinnamon · $9
• Greek yogurt bowl, seasonal fruit, buckwheat granola · $11
• Two eggs any style, sourdough, side · $13
• Frittata slice (rotates weekly, vegetarian by default, one meat option) · $14
• Avocado, chile, lemon on toast · $12
• Egg + gruyere biscuit sandwich · $11 (add bacon +$3)

Lunch (11:00 AM to 3:00 PM)

• House salad (rotates seasonally, at least one grain-and-green option) · $16
• Grain bowl (freekeh, farro, or barley base, seasonal vegetables, protein add) · $17 (add chicken +$6, salmon +$8, tofu +$4)
• Roasted vegetable plate, tahini, herbs · $15
• Grilled chicken, chimichurri, seasonal side · $19
• Roasted salmon, lentil, greens · $22
• Grass-fed burger (Wagyu blend, aged cheddar, on brioche, house pickle, hand-cut fries) · $22
• Turkey club, sourdough, aioli, market side · $17
• Soup of the day + half salad · $14

Evening small plates (5:00 PM to 9:00 PM Tue-Sat)

• Marinated olives, warm bread · $8
• Whipped ricotta, honey, black pepper, grilled bread · $12
• Charcuterie board (rotating selection, house pickles, mustard) · $22
• Cheese board (3 selections, honeycomb, seasonal fruit) · $20
• Beef tartare, capers, quail egg, toast · $18
• Chicken liver mousse, brioche, cornichon · $14
• Wagyu carpaccio, arugula, parmesan, lemon · $19
• Half roast chicken, seasonal side · $28
• Steak frites (hanger steak, béarnaise, hand-cut fries) · $32
• Cacio e pepe · $18

Kitchen closes 9:00 PM Tue-Sat. Kitchen closed Mon evening (lounge open, bar snacks only).

Weekend brunch (Sat + Sun 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM)

Full breakfast + lunch menu available continuously, plus: - Buttermilk pancakes, seasonal fruit, whipped cream · $14 - French toast, brioche, maple, banana · $15 - Eggs Benedict (classic or crab cake) · $18 / $22 - Steak + eggs (hanger, two eggs, hash) · $26 - Smoked salmon plate, bagel, capers, red onion · $19 - Bloody Mary · $14 / Mimosa · $12 / Espresso Martini · $16

Bar program

Evening bar service starts 4:00 PM Tue-Sat. Wine + cocktails + beer + zero-proof. The bar is a full ABC license, not a soft-serve wellness bar.

Wine list

• Rotating list of 25-30 selections
• Skews natural + old world (Loire, Piedmont, Beaujolais, Sicily, Northern Rhône)
• 4-6 by-the-glass reds, 4-6 by-the-glass whites, 2 orange, 2 rosé, 4-6 sparkling
• Champagne selection (baseline: Larmandier-Bernier, Chartogne-Taillet, R. Pouillon)
• Prestige tier (Krug Grande Cuvée, Bollinger La Grande Année, Salon in limited allocation)

Glass pours: $14 to $28 Bottles: $60 to $450 with a special-occasion cellar list up to $1,200

Cocktail program

Clean, classic-forward. Small list of 8-10 signatures + full classics on request.

Signature cocktails:

• The Vault · aged rum, Amaro Nonino, black walnut bitters, orange oil, served up · $18
• The Perfect Landing · reposado tequila, mezcal, Ancho Reyes, lime, house grenadine, chile salt · $17
• The Warm Down · calvados, Cocchi Americano, honey, lemon, egg white, nutmeg · $17
• Bee’s Knees, house · London Dry gin, VAULT honey (rotates: honeycomb from a Charlotte-adjacent apiary), lemon · $16
• Old Fashioned, VAULT · Elijah Craig Small Batch, Demerara, aromatic + orange bitters, house orange oil · $17
• Vieux Carré · rye, cognac, sweet vermouth, Benedictine, bitters · $18
• Espresso Martini · Onyx cold brew, Mr. Black, vodka · $16
• Paloma, Cabana · Tequila Ocho, grapefruit, lime, salt · $16

Zero-proof program

Full parity with the alcoholic list. Not an afterthought.

• Seedlip + tonic (Grove or Garden), various citrus · $10
• Wilderton Earthen negroni-adjacent · $12
• Athletic Brewing IPA + Free Wave (rotating tap) · $8
• Ghia + soda + salt · $11
• Ceremonial-grade matcha lemonade · $9
• House shrubs (rotate seasonally, sparkling water base) · $8

Beer

Tight list. 4 taps + 8 bottle/can selections. Highlights: NoDa Brewing (Charlotte local anchor), Athletic (zero-proof standard), Suarez Family Brewery (upstate NY, when in season)

Programming (weekly + monthly)

The lounge has an event cadence. Members expect a reason to be there beyond the food.

Weekly

• Monday: low-key. Bar snacks only after 5 PM. Lounge open for members co-working.
• Tuesday: Vinyl Night. Trill or a rotating DJ spins on a wax setup from 6-9 PM in the lounge. Low-volume, background, member atmosphere.
• Wednesday: Member Mixer, 6-8 PM. Complimentary passed bites + member-price bar. Rotating theme (new-member welcome, industry-connect, wellness-focused).
• Thursday: Salon Series, 7-8:30 PM. Programmed monthly (see below).
• Friday: Live acoustic set, 6-8 PM. Guitar + vocals or piano + vocals. Local Charlotte talent + Trill’s touring network guests when in market.
• Saturday: Brunch until 2 PM. Afternoon lounge open. Evening: bartender’s choice cocktail flight events monthly.
• Sunday: Brunch until 2 PM. Quiet lounge until 6 PM close.

Monthly

• Salon Series (first Thursday): Taj hosts a conversation with a guest (a writer, a designer, a musician, a founder, a scholar). 40 members + guests. Ticketed at $0 for members, $25 for guests, includes 1 drink.
• Members’ Dinner (second Sunday): intimate seated dinner in a lounge partition. 24 members + partners. Rotating chef partner from Charlotte’s food scene. Prix fixe $85 for Studio/Black Card, +1 seat for a partner or guest at $95.
• Founding Members’ Dinner (quarterly): Founding-only, 30 seats, hosted by Taj + Head of Programming. Complimentary.
• New Member Reception (last Wednesday): an extended member mixer welcoming new signups from the month. Complimentary. Concierge introductions.

Live music

Bi-weekly live setups (Friday cadence baseline). Trill’s touring network + Charlotte’s Music Yard + a rotating booker (Trill-approved) source talent. Sound spec: 1 vocal mic + 1 instrument mic + small PA (Meyer or L-Acoustics micro). No drum kit in the lounge. Piano option: baby grand permanent in lounge (Steinway pre-owned, cost basis ~$35K).

Editorial + newspaper stand

Lounge houses an editorial rack + reading table. Not a magazine dump; a curation.

Standing subscriptions (physical): - The New York Times (Sunday) - Financial Times (weekend) - Wall Street Journal (weekend) - Charlotte Observer (daily) - The Economist - The Atlantic - The New Yorker - The Paris Review - Kinfolk - Cereal - Apartamento - Cabana - Wallpaper - The Face - Interview - The Gentlewoman - Fantastic Man - Monocle

Rotated + refreshed weekly. Back issues stored in the members’ library reading nook (12 months rolling archive).

Books: curated shelf of 60-80 titles rotating quarterly. Design, movement, memoir, cookbooks, fiction. Members may borrow (honor system, checkout card at concierge).

Outdoor terrace

300 sq ft adjacent to the lounge (assuming property supports; a candidate criterion in 04_MARKET_SELECTION_CHARLOTTE).

Program: - 3-4 outdoor seating clusters (small tables for 2-4) - Gas fire pit (evening ambient heat) - Overhead shade sail or pergola with retractable canopy - Full food + bar service extended to terrace weather-permitting - Available for private buyout for member events (Studio + Black Card, book through concierge)

Member co-working + hosting

Members use the lounge as an extension of their workday. Deliberate posture: - WiFi throughput sized for 60 concurrent users at video-call quality (fiber to premise, dual carrier) - Power at every seating cluster (recessed, discreet) - Phone-call etiquette: full-voice calls asked to move to the terrace or the small phone-booth adjacent to the lounge - Members may host meetings of up to 4 in the lounge without pre-booking - Larger gatherings (5-12) may reserve a lounge partition (Studio-tier: $50/hr, Black Card: complimentary up to 4 hr/mo, additional at $30/hr) - Not a co-working space. Members should feel welcome to work; the room should not become one large office.

Pricing philosophy

Menu prices sit below Charlotte fine-dining comps and at par with the neighborhood premium (Kindred, The Fig Tree, Barcelona Wine Bar). Members feel value; guests feel it is fair.

The café is not a profit center in isolation. Target F&B contribution margin at maturity: ~15% of gross F&B revenue after COGS + labor + overhead. That is thin by restaurant standard but appropriate: the lounge earns its keep through membership retention, not through F&B P&L.

F&B revenue at maturity (rough model): - 800 members × 3.2 lounge visits/wk × $16 avg ticket (mixed coffee, meals, evening) = ~$41K/wk = ~$2.1M/yr - Guest revenue + events: ~$300K/yr - Total F&B revenue: ~$2.4M/yr - Contribution margin ~15%: ~$360K contribution to house

Modest direct margin. Enormous retention lift.

Lounge hours

• Monday: 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM (light day, no evening dinner service)
• Tuesday to Thursday: 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM
• Friday: 6:00 AM to 11:00 PM
• Saturday: 7:00 AM to 11:00 PM
• Sunday: 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM

Kitchen closes 1 hour before lounge close. Bar closes 30 min before lounge close.

Staffing (steady-state)

• 2 baristas peak + 1 off-peak
• 2 servers peak (lunch + dinner) + 1 off-peak
• 1 bartender evening service Tue-Sat + weekend brunch
• 1 lounge captain (host, member recognition, event coordination)
• 1 sous chef + 1 line cook + 1 prep cook (kitchen team, small brigade)
• 1 chef de cuisine (reports to Head of F&B or GM depending on final org chart)

Staff cross-trained on member recognition, name recall, dietary preferences (allergen file), and hospitality standards (no member arrives without being greeted).

Vendor list (opening)

• Coffee: Onyx Coffee Lab (primary), local rotator (Not Just Coffee or Undercurrent)
• Dairy: Homestead Creamery
• Bread: locally-baked sourdough partner (Amélie’s or Manna Bakery equivalent)
• Produce: Freshlist Charlotte (aggregator for local farms)
• Protein: local butcher partner (Cured Charleston-affiliated Charlotte butcher, or a direct-farm relationship)
• Wine: 2-3 wholesale accounts + direct-import relationships for allocation
• Spirits: standard NC ABC channel + private-label small allocation
• Non-alc: Athletic, Seedlip, Ghia, Wilderton via wholesale
• Tabletop + glassware: Heath Ceramics dinnerware, Zalto or Josephinenhütte stemware for prestige pours
• Flatware: Sori Yanagi or David Mellor
• Linens: Rough Linen

Next docs

• Class programming detail → 02_CLASS_PROGRAMMING
• Personal training → 03_PERSONAL_TRAINING
• Recovery → 04_RECOVERY_WING
• Full ops (safety, HR, systems) → 07_OPERATIONS
• Member experience journey → 06_MEMBER_EXPERIENCE