Bon Jovi Hungers for 'Pay What You Can' Dining

Rocker Jon Bon Jovi can afford to eat at any restaurant on the globe. It’s a perk of being a world-famous rock star, the kind that can gouge fans with insanely high concert ticket prices.

But his biggest culinary passion comes from running a “pay what you can” restaurant in his beloved home state.

The restaurant provides gourmet-quality meals to the hungry while enabling them to volunteer on community projects in return without the stigma of visiting a soup kitchen. Paying customers are encouraged to leave whatever they want in the envelopes on each table, where the menus never list a price.

“With the economic downturn, one of the things I noticed was that disposable income was one of the first things that went,” Bon Jovi told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday before the restaurant’s grand opening ceremony. “Dining out, the family going out to a restaurant, mom not having to cook, dad not having to clean up–a lot of memories were made around restaurant tables.

If Bon Jovi’s continued support for President Barack Obama in 2012 earns the leader a second term he’ll have plenty of restaurant patrons for at least five more years.