From Deseret News archives:
One World Cafe
The lack of menus is easily enough explained.
But the cafe, 41 S. 300 East, is the only restaurant Cerreta knows of in the United States that allows customers to set the value of their meals.
There's no cash register in the store just a money box. Patrons place as much, or as little, as they have or feel their meal was worth in the box.
If they only eat a little bit, they only pay a little bit. If they indulge in soup, salad, an entree and dessert, they pay a little bit more.
The cafe's unique format allows everyone to eat, Cerreta says. It also eliminates waste, because customers don't feel they have to overeat to get their money's worth.
"People say I'm crazy," she says, but her idea seems to be working. While most restaurants 80 percent by some accounts don't survive the first year of business, One World Cafe just celebrated its second birthday. And Cerreta says by the end of the month, she'll be in the black for the first time.
Things weren't always so good, though.
Cerreta was practicing acupuncture in the same building the cafe is currently when she said she felt like she reached her "spiritual glass ceiling."
So she ditched the acupuncture gig, focusing instead on running a sandwich and coffee shop.
After a while of serving the same old thing, Cerreta said she felt inspired to break away from the norm, ditching the menu and the price tag. And the very next customer to walk through the door paid what she thought her food was worth.
"The first couple of months were very lean," she says. "My car got repossessed. I'd break into a cold sweat every time a power truck pulled up."
Cerreta was the only employee, and she worked long hours every day. Without a car and without enough money to buy food wholesale, she walked to a Wild Oats Marketplace to buy the organic food she used to make her dishes, which were mostly Greek and Italian. She had no real culinary training and made what she knew how to make.
Now Cerreta has nine employees, all of whom she pays a living wage. She's hired real chefs who make up the menu every morning based on what's in season and what's in the fridge. And Cerreta admits the food has gotten a little bit better.
"You fake it until you make," Cerreta says. "Those were hard times, but I learned a lot. I'd never trade that experience for anything."
Recent comments
I learned about your restaurant on NBC Nightly news. God bless you...
Susan from RI | March 11, 2009 at 7:14 a.m.
We saw your story on NBC Nightly News. We were so impressed, we will...
Laura | March 9, 2009 at 6:07 p.m.
I truly believe that people like yourselves are angels from God.
I...
Syllie | April 7, 2008 at 7:03 p.m.
- Grizzlies lend forward to AHL team 2:06 a.m.
- Basic Sports Training clinic Saturday 2:06 a.m.
- Tony Finau reaches Big Break finale 2:05 a.m.
- Chicken-lovers dance for free food 2:02 a.m.
- Kansas' Secret Santa gives away $ 1:24 a.m.
- 75 hostages seized in Phillippines 1:24 a.m.
- Gates: US to be Afghan partner 1:23 a.m.
- Al-Qaida claims credit for blasts 1:23 a.m.
- Utah Utes campus briefs 12:39 a.m.
- SUU campus briefs 12:37 a.m.
- Hot Rod behind mic for Lakers
- Panel passes BCS playoff bill
- Crash landing next to I-15
- Max Hall wants to look ahead
- Palin signs books, chats with fans
- Psychologist: Mitchell schizophrenic
- Cougars use depth to beat ASU
- Non-BCS schools not given fair shot
- Jazz go up against 'the best'
- Many seek to wipe clean misdeeds
- Letters: Global warming a lie
229 - TCU to play Boise in Fiesta Bowl
206 - BYU football: Bronco weighs in on Hall
184 - Cougars going back to Vegas
150 - Utah/BYU rivalry can be more civil
147 - Andersen apologizes for Jordan hoax
138 - Max Hall wants to look ahead
119 - Revive full food tax?
100 - Yet again, we learn BCS is a big joke
94 - Palin signs books, chats with fans
94
Love him or hate him, Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch knows how to get attention.
My wife Lisa and I would prefer never to argue. But that's not going to...
For the latest news in the health care debate and how it affects you...
Top 5 Players in minutes played: Utah 1 Fr, 2 Jr, 2 Sr Jr Carlon Brown...
Yep "self righteous" if the rest of us who don't rubber neck left, you would...
Thank you for keeping the team here for all of these years, and for always...
of misery, inconsistency, road games losses and of course, NO TITLE ! Long...
Glad to hear about Matt and the others who demonstrate you can play at a high...
I guess they forgot that God made clothes for Adam and Eve and that was...
and good luck.
There is an inherent problem in any rating system -- it takes into account...
Give Phillips some credit. He was 5/5 in field goals in the YBU game, and the...
Mr. Bender's kind of thinking doesn't even acknowledge that the world is...


