The History of the Vault Restaurant dates back to 2003 when Aaron Hotell partnered with Brent Gray and Jeremy Ellis from the Washington Avenue Grill expanding their restaurant style to the Cloverdale area
Together the three built and constructed the Vault Restaurant from the remains of the Royal Bank, which had first been opened in Cloverdale back in 1982. At the time of their partnership, the three were forced to take on the construction themselves as money to invest in private contractors wasn’t available. not really knowing much about the construction business it wasn’t until three years later that they finally opened the doors. Led by Hotell, the construction had taken lengthy amount of time. His background in the mining industry gave him just Enough knowledge to think that he knew what he was doing, but with help of his father, his partners and local friends and trades They finally opened in September 2006.
I took a few years for the restaurant to become established. While menu items like Ahi tuna And chilli chicken are common amongst West Coast cuisine restaurants at the time they were new flavours brought to the blue collar working class community of Cloverdale. The style not being immediately embraced, was still very popular in the White rock area with the Washington Avenue Grill’s menu, giving the trio of business owners hope that their vision would soon catch on.
Aaron Hotell and Jeremy Ellis first met as children playing sports together in the local White Rock area. Eventually working for Brent Gray when the Washington Avenue Grill (WAG) first opened the three partnered forming the Pacific North Coast Restaurant Group. The Group now also owns the Hawthorne Beer Market and Bistro and a partnered ownership of the Cabin in Crescent Beach along with Tom and Tracy Gass.
Brent Gray’s business leadership combined with Jeremy Ellis’ fine dining experience (most notably Global in Yaletown, now Global Restaurant Group) had brought the WAG to a locally well respected level both in atmosphere and service. Aaron Hotell was tasked with finding new a creative ways to bring in guests. Together they made the WAG the busiest restaurant in the White Rock area. It wasn’t long after the need to separate their management styles was apparent, even though their styles were incredibly complimentary the three fought like brothers often not seeing eye to eye. Hotell was then tasked with opening a sister style restaurant in the neighbouring community.
Aaron Hotell had worked in a few local kitchens while growing up, primarily Wolfie’s Restaurant a European style bistro owned and operated by Wolfgang Hans. At the time Wolfie’s was one of the most popular Venues in White Rock, the place to be seen. A hang out for local government officials, police chiefs and local celebrities. While Hotell was still only the young age of 15 it was her he credits his first introduction to building restaurants. Hotell worked closely with Wolfgang not only in the kitchen but also learning construction and renovations. Wolfie’s Artistic style was something that fascinated Hotell and he soon found himself emersed in the industry, construction all day… over the stoves all night. Hotell later worked on the construction and kitchens of Cielo’s Spanish Tapas and Beercher Street Cafe reinforcing his desire to build and cook… grinding away at both while also remaining a fly on the wall during creative discussions and plans as both restaurant owners were constantly planning their own business expansions.