Pay-what-you-can restaurant tries for Amsterdam locale
A cafe where visitors can decide themselves what they are willing to pay for a meal they have already eaten is planning to open a permanent venue in the Randstad after the summer, with a preference on Amsterdam. The restauranteur's have raised about half of a 20 thousand-euro target in a crowdfunding campaign meant to cover start-up costs.
Previously the entrepreneurs tested the concept of the cafe, Geef or "GIve", for six months as a pop-up restaurant in Rotterdam. "In the beginning, nobody believed that it could work, but after extensive testing we realized that the concept does work," project initiator Judith Manshanden, told the Parool. "There are people who pay with the head, while others pay with their heart."
In the crowdfunding effort, a pledge of fifty euros will buy a lunch for two with a goodie bag, while 100 euros gets a three-course dinner instead.
Based on their Rotterdam experience, the entrepreneurs expect the Amsterdam facility to be giving away around 1,250 meals per year. They expect around 50 volunteers to join their project. The initiative is also supported by several local social enterprises and organizations.
Tonight and tomorrow, the cafe organizes dinners with around one hundred attendees and three courses, where the guests will themselves decide what to pay for the treat.
There is currently at least one other restaurant, "Trust" on the Albert Cuypstraat in Amsterdam, that also allows customers to decide what they are paying for the meal.
