Baseball season may be almost over, but Athlete Eats owner Simon Lusky isn’t slowing down. Now that the Cardinals team chef is in the off-season, Lusky announced plans for rapid expansion of the Athlete Eats brand with a second location in Brentwood, a food truck and another restaurant concept.
Athlete Eats opened its brick-and-mortar cafe at 2837 Cherokee St. in February 2014, specializing in health-focused eats, fresh-squeezed juices, smoothies and even house-made kombucha on tap. The small cafe also provided a bigger kitchen for Lusky to expand his prepared meal delivery service. Now, less than a year after opening, Lusky said he has found a second location in Brentwood to debut in spring 2015. “We really like Cherokee, and it was a great place for us to start, but we have so many customers coming from that way,” he said. “We wanted to be more accessible.”
The new location (the address will be announced in the coming weeks) will initially offer the same menu as the flagship location, but with 1,200 square feet and a patio, the new Athlete Eats will seat 50, more than four times the capacity of the first. Lusky said he hopes to expand menu options at the Brentwood location and plans to offer daily breakfast and later nighttime hours.
But for those who can’t make it to either spot, Athlete Eats may just come to them. The Athlete Eats food truck is slated to roll out in early 2015 to add more fast-casual healthy options downtown, as well as at special events like marathons and cycling races. Athlete Eats kitchen manager Beth Ruble will helm the mobile eatery.
And if that weren’t enough, Lusky has his sights set on Clayton to debut another health-conscious restaurant concept with a fine-dining bent. He’s particularly excited to design a bar program featuring local or organic beers and wines and cocktails made with fresh squeezed juice or kombucha. “We really want our presence to be felt in St. Louis and in other areas of the city,” Lusky said. “I’m only 26 years old, and I feel like let’s go for it now while I have the energy.”
-photo by Ashley Gieseking
This article appears in October 2014.