Jon Bon Jovi opens "pay what you can" restaurant in New Jersey, helps hungry locals who are livin' on a prayer



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Soul Kitchen is a new restaurant opened in Red Bank, New Jersey, by Jon Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea. The establishment offers a "pay what you can afford" payment model, and serves wholesome, gourmet food made with fresh ingredients grown in the restaurant's garden, and other local produce.

On the website, they explain that Soul Kitchen is "A community restaurant with no prices on the menu; customers donate to pay for their meal. If you are unable to donate you may do volunteer work in exchange for your family's meal."

But as NJ.com reports, this is no soup kitchen serving up desperation and gruel. "The décor is upscale. Patrons don't wait in line — they are waited on."

This is a cool thing. If I were in the area, I'd go buy a meal to support the project, or offer to help out in the kitchen for the afternoon. I'm hearing of similar ventures around the country, like the Panera experiment I blogged about here earlier. Boing Boing readers, is there something like Soul Kitchen in your home town?

(via @antderosa)