A restaurant with no checks

At the Karma Kitchen in Berkeley, Calif., customers pay what they want – including nothing – for a meal.

from the October 25, 2007 edition

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While Karma pays Thapa a small fee for use of the restaurant on Saturday nights to cover the salary of chefs and some food ingredients, the fee pales in comparison to what he'd normally make on the highest volume night of the week. "We are all experiencing the satisfaction one gets when serving other people," says Thapa.

The volunteer staff is central to Karma Kitchen and distinguishes it from other restaurants that have sprung up across the country with no fixed pricing. Indeed, for those behind Karma Kitchen, the volunteer component is every bit as important as the food experience for guests. "The act of service, whatever it is, transforms you," says Mehta.

The biggest challenge to Karma Kitchen is sustaining an operation that requires such a heavy dose of volunteer spirit and muscle. But the restaurant has been operating for over six months with no lack of servers.

An hour before opening, the night's volunteers gather for an orientation. "Lately we have been very busy, and it can be high volume for five hours," says Pavi Mehta to the group. "But don't forget the generosity. In thought, word, and action, be in the space of generosity."

The volunteers weigh in. "For me this is about giving and putting aside my ego," says one. Adds another, half of a husband and wife team, "we heard about it from a friend, and we wondered should we eat here or volunteer. We decided to volunteer."

So far, the restaurant has routinely taken in more revenue than the fee it pays to the owner. The net profits are turned over to Charityfocus.org, an umbrella group that funnels funds to other "gift economy" activities.

It doesn't hurt that the food is very good. Put together by chef Chatra Lamichaney, who has cooked in restaurants in Cyprus, Iraq, India, and Vietnam, the menu is a full course vegetarian and mostly Indian meal. It starts with a salad, followed by steamed dumplings, cauliflower and potato curry, rice, lentil soup, and baskets of freshly baked flat bread. No alcohol or meat is served. "You know I'm from Michigan, and frankly I think some people will be sort of suspicious of this whole California, tofu, squishy thing," says first-time visitor Megan Hulce of Los Altos. "But I have to say I love it. I'll be back to volunteer."

Just the sort of circle of giving the founders had in mind.

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