Organic-food veteran Michael Joseph builds new venture from Scratch

BOULDER — Michael Joseph — the mind behind Green Chef, Door to Door Organics and Mile High Organics — thinks that the potential for healthy, convenient foods hasn’t even scratched the surface. He aims to change that with his latest takeout/to-go food venture, Scratch Kitchen Concepts.

“We think that delivery and take-out deserves a lot more investment and attention to better serve customers when they’re ordering that type of food,” Joseph said.

He added that while he enjoys a sit-down restaurant just as much as the next food-fanatic, there’s not as much room to innovate in a traditional model. Rather than investing in seating areas and waitstaff, Joseph wants to make Scratch Kitchen the best “on-demand-dining” company around.

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Joseph’s team renovated the former Sun Deli building at 2299 Pearl St., costing an undisclosed sum. With only final touches left, Scratch Kitchen will open its doors March 17.

Like a dining hall, there will be multiple restaurants under one roof. The catch is that it will be exclusively to-go/takeout and will serve meals with only simple, recognizable ingredients. Anything that falls under the “Dirty Dozen,” will be bought organically. Dirty Dozen is an annual list from the Environmental Working Group of the 12 fruits and vegetables with the highest concentrations of pesticides. 

There are three restaurants currently: Greenlight, Kin and Co. and Clubhouse. All concepts were created by the Scratch Kitchen team and have full menus that offer gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options. Joseph wants to meet a variety of taste buds and dietary restrictions. Greenlight makes salad bowls. Kin and Co. creates “twists on grandma’s recipes,” such as pot pie and meatloaf. Clubhouse serves up deli-style sandwiches and soups.

With delivery and takeout typically come disposable bags, containers, napkins and utensils that take years to decompose. Scratch Kitchen will use recyclable or compostable packaging. The utensils are also compostable, but available only upon request.

Joseph said the Scratch Kitchen building could potentially house up to 12 operations. As of now, there are nine full-time employees working on office operations, including Joseph and his partner, Jake Malanoski. There will be 23 workers, between admin and the restaurants, once operational.

Green Chef Corp., Joseph’s certified-organic meal-kit concept, was acquired by HelloFresh SE in 2018 for an undisclosed amount. It spun out of Mile High Organics, an organic, GMO-free online grocer, which closed in 2012. Before that, Joseph founded Door to Door Organics, launched in 1997 as a produce box delivery company, shuttering abruptly in 2017.