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Free Food?

by Leah Koenig · February 5th, 2008
Cooking, Featured, Food Justice, Neat Projects, News, Restaurants, School Food, Vegetarian

shanaka.jpg

Last summer, the British rock band Radiohead made waves by selling their new album, In Rainbows, on a pay what you can basis.

Now, a vegetarian restauranteur is taking this model to the food world, selling meat-free, globally-inspired cuisine to customers – for whatever they think is “fair” – at his non-profit eatery, Lentil as Anything, and a local college cafe.

Some customers are completely thrown by the concept, and continue to ask for prices at the counter, but others see it as a chance to give back to their community. Owner Shanaka Fernando said the most a customer ever paid for a lentil burger was $50. “There must have been something in it that I didn’t see,” he said.

What do you think – is this an inspired idea, or totally nuts? I’m not sure yet, but I do already have a name in mind for the potential kosher, vegetarian spinoff: Abraham’s Tent.

Read the full article about the restaurant and school eatery here.

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10 Responses to “Free Food?”

  1. Bloom Says:
    February 5th, 2008 at 11:43 am

    I have heard of an Indian restaurant in South Tel Aviv, though I haven’t yet been there, where its ‘eat according to your appetite, pay according to your means.’

    Bloom

  2. Kerr Says:
    February 5th, 2008 at 1:58 pm

    The first pay-as-you-can restaurant I heard about was in Salt Lake City. Ahah! Here it is: http://www.oneworldeverybodyea.....ecity.html

    I think it’s a great idea, and I want to see one in my own town. I love that it’s in schools, I think it’ll give the kids great ideas.

  3. Huw Says:
    February 5th, 2008 at 3:56 pm

    There is a pay-as-you-can pizza place near Asheville, NC. Organic, handmade or homegrown locally-sourced food, cooked in a brick oven. BYOB. It’s quite amazing. (Sorry no website that I know of.) It’s been there for several years.

    The model works two ways: providing healthy food, advertising by word of mouth, ensures that both sides of the counter are (usually) happy. But also, since one is not charging for the food directly, one is not said to be *selling* the food, therefore no health inspections, licensing or other such issues, at least in NC. YMMV.

  4. dory Says:
    February 5th, 2008 at 5:34 pm

    There’s a new-ish place in vancouver, called Rhizome, that has a totally full regular menu of veggie food with prices…but also the option of ordering “Lentils are Everything” which is some unbelievably delicious lentil stew, that you pay for by putting whatever you feel is appropriate into the box on the counter.

    I guess there’s some sort of broken-telephone translation between Lentils are Everything and Lentils as Anything, but do we know the root of this phrase/idea?

  5. Amez Says:
    February 5th, 2008 at 5:37 pm

    It’s a fantastic idea, and one that appears to be flourishing! On top of the school canteen, there are also 4 “Lentil as anything” restaurants so it’s obviously not losing money hand over fist. There’s something nice about paying what you think the food is worth (or more importantly what you can afford) and it’s more than a social experiment. :)

  6. Leah Koenig Says:
    February 5th, 2008 at 5:44 pm

    It’s amazing to find out that so many of these restaurants exist! I vaguely remember reading or hearing about a similar place in New York that shut down a while back because it couldn’t cover its costs. (stupid New York rent)

    Dory, my co-worker, Daniel (an Aussie native who originally told me about this story) said that Lentil as Anything is a play on the name of an Australian rock band, Mental as
    Anything. :)

  7. Michael Croland Says:
    February 5th, 2008 at 9:46 pm

    This is great! =)

  8. Jeff Says:
    February 6th, 2008 at 7:32 am

    Bloom, there is such an Indian place in South Tel Aviv, Sanb Kuch Milega, that is great. The food’s not the best but it’s not bad and the place has been around for quite a while now. The vibe of the place is really nice, partly because it also has a hostel in it and it has a performance area on the second floor. The idea, however, totally works, partly because the meal costs what you think it should be and they charge a lot of money for their drinks. I take my visitors there.

    I’ve also been to a place in New Hampshire about 5 years ago that also followed this model and all that I recall is that the food was bland and the plates were dirty.

    I’m not sure how i feel about all of this. Is it better to have this model or one that actually charges fair prices for what a meal costs plus a little something extra for preparation? I think I tend to prefer the latter.

  9. Kerr Says:
    February 6th, 2008 at 1:34 pm

    I think if I were going to do this in my city tomorrow, and after skimming One World Everybody Eats Foundations handbook of advice on how to do this, I’d open a place with two rooms and fairly free flow: one a coffee, tea, and beer/wine bar that charges a flat price, the other a pay-as-you-can cafe with the free Dal and bread. The quality of the food and the atmosphere are essential, so I’d get an excellent head chef and very competent sous, and work hard to find a space that is welcoming and acoustically quiet (I really find it hard to go to places where the building turns ordinary conversation into deafening din).

  10. shanaka Says:
    January 10th, 2009 at 10:33 am

    what about yentil as anything

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