Fresh Thymes Eatery to open Saturday

BOULDER – Fresh Thymes Eatery will open Saturday, Aug. 24, at 2500 30th St. in Boulder after raising more than $25,000 through member “shares” and private investors.

The Boulder-based “community-supported restaurant” plans to raise an additional $25,000 from member “shares” through the end of December, said Nikki Dugas, a spokeswoman. Members can pay a set sum ranging from $250 to $1,000 to receive gift cards, community dinners and similar benefits.

The funding model is similar to that of “community-supported agriculture,” or CSA, in which people buy a “share” of vegetables from a farmer before the growing season, and they are delivered – usually weekly – during the summer months.

Restaurant investors decided go with the nontraditional funding concept to help create a financial “buffer” to help the restaurant succeed, Dugas said. Membership is expected to be phased out after Dec. 31, she said.

“For most restaurants, the most critical period of time is in that first six-month period, so it feels right that it would be our community that creates that buffer for us,” Dugas said.

Fresh Thymes will focus on healthy takeout items such as “ingredient-conscious” salads, sandwiches and hot items. Customers will be able to pick up items or eat at the restaurant, which occupies the space that formerly housed the Elephant Hut Thai restaurant.

Owner Christine Ruch said previously that she was inspired to open the restaurant because of her personal struggles with food allergies and autoimmune disease. She is the head culinary instructor of Bauman College of Holistic Nutrition and Culinary Arts in Boulder. The college is headquartered in Penngrove, California. She also has served as head chef for the Growe Foundation, a fresh vegetable food program in the Boulder Valley School District.

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