BOULDER, Colo. — A cafe on Boulder's Pearl Street wants to help you live a healthier lifestyle by introducing elite nutrition into your daily routine. It has taken the principles of sports performance and baked it into a comfort food menu.
Dr. Allen Lim is a former sports scientist and coach on the pro-cycling tour, and through his research, started a performance product company called Skratch Labs.
"Ultimately our bread and butter is sports nutrition products," Lim said. "Skratch started with our sports drink mix."
He's since rolled his years of experience into a bustling eatery, bringing that same nutrition to the masses.
"Everything is made here fresh from scratch," Lim said. We take a whole lot of pride in it. We have breakfast burritos, rice bowls, karaage fried chicken, little sushi rice cakes."
On the surface, Skratch Labs Cafe invites you in with its coffee and co-working space. But Lim said the missing ingredient to peak fitness has always been an intangible sense of community.
"For example, when I was on the pro tour, one of the most performance-enhancing things we could do was make sure all the athletes were sitting together at the dinner table," Lim said. "Sharing stories, laughing you know, and connecting with one another. A delicious cookie might be just as good as an energy bar."
The menu includes quick bites and full meals, and they even have a cookbook with easy recipes to make on the go. So, whether you're starting your day, or winding down, you can join them for the comfort of camaraderie.
"Food serves a much larger purpose than just the you know calories, carbohydrates, fats and proteins that it might provide," Lim said. "It provides social fuel as much as it provides chemical fuel."
Lim said hikes, runs and rides start almost daily from Skratch Labs Cafe.
