Rocker Bon Jovi Opens Charity Restaurant in New Jersey
October 20, 2011 | Read Time: 1 minute
New Jersey-born rock star Jon Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea, have opened a “pay-what-you-can” restaurant in his home state, offering what he says is an antidote to soup kitchens for local homeless and hungry people, the Associated Press writes.
The Soul Kitchen in Red Bank, N.J., a project of the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, opened Wednesday, offering gourmet fare like cornmeal-crusted catfish and grilled salmon with sweet potato mash in a former auto-body shop.
“This is not a soup kitchen,” Bon Jovi said the restaurant, which grew out of his and Dorothea’s volunteer work at a nearby church’s meal program. “You can come here with the dignity of linens and silver, and you’re served a healthy, nutritious meal.”
The menu does not list prices. Customers who can pay are asked to leave whatever they want in envelopes on the table, and those who can’t are encouraged to work at the restaurant or for community groups.
