Jon Bon Jovi's Pay-What-You-Can Eatery

[OneGrassRoot]

I'm seeing this more and more. Panera Bread has a few of these pilot restaurants where you pay what you can as well.

:thumbsup:

This week, after a soft Friends and Family period to work out some of the kinks, Mr. Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea, opened the doors to what he hopes might be the first of several Soul Kitchens here.

The idea is this: There are no prices on the menu, which features such items as Garden State Gumbo, with chicken, pork sausage and Jersey fresh kale and a BBQ grilled salmon filet with soul seasonings, sweet potato mash and sautéed greens. Diners who are able to pay should leave more than the suggested minimum donation; Diners who can't afford to pay can volunteer to work at the Soul Kitchen to cover their meals. The restaurant will be open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night and for Sunday brunch.

The initiative is part of the JBJ Foundation, which for the most part has focused on developing affordable housing. But with the economic downturn, great achievements in that area were slower to come by, Mr. Bon Jovi explained. One night, he and his wife caught a segment by Brian Williams that showed restaurants offering free menu items to needy patrons in Salt Lake City and Denver. They decided that feeding the community would be the next step for the JBJ Soul Foundation.

The JBJ Soul Kitchen began serving meals two years ago, using pilot locations at a local soup kitchen and a church. Enlisting a few friends and their in-kind donations of time and effort, the Bon Jovis took over and renovated a decrepit 1,100- square-foot auto-body shop into this permanent home which, to its great advantage, has the comforting look and feel of a neighborhood hangout spot.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204618704576643420175842668.html


edit to add another link in case above doesn't work for some: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/20/jon-bon-jovis-charity-res_n_1020628.html?ir=Fifty&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009

[qb]

1. I would love to be able to go out for a meal & work it off. JBJ is awesome.

:yourock:

[Mojambo]

2. Very cool. n/t

[cutlassmama]

3. wonderful! It would be great if every city had one of these.