Salt Lake City's One World Cafe breaks two of the most fundamental rules of the restaurant business.
First, there are no menus. Diners at the restaurant, 41 S. 300 East, eat whatever sparks the culinary imagination of owner and chef Denise Cerreta.
Most days she offers soup, one or two salads, quiche, a main entree and a dessert, all of which were inspired by the fresh, organic produce and meats she buys that day.
Customers can fill their plates with as much, or as little, as they want and -- here is the second business breach -- pay what they feel their meal is worth. In place of a cash register, Cerreta has a brown basket where patrons place their money.
Low on cash? Then a small scoop of the black bean salad and a slice of bread will do.
Or maybe it's payday and your wallet can accommodate a bit more, like the cool gazpacho, an enchilada and some of that decadent chocolate cake with strawberries.
"I'm a for-profit business, but I operate in a sort of nonprofit mode," says the 41-year-old Cerreta, who opened the cafe in April with the mission of serving not just quality, unprocessed foods, but her community as well.
She encourages her customers, many of whom are vegetarians and vegans, to share plates. And she doesn't mind if you want just a "sliver" of her double espresso brownie. With diners deciding how much food to eat, Cerreta says there is little waste and no need for her customers to overeat just to get their money's worth.
Cerreta admits it's a strange business model in today's capitalistic society and has never heard of anyone else, at least in Utah, who does anything similar.
"The essence is that everyone can eat," she says. "And I can make a difference."
More and more restaurants across the country are developing menus around different portion sizes and adjusting prices for smaller or large amounts, says Melva Sine, president of the Utah Restaurant Association. "But I've never heard of a restaurant opening up and not having some kind of established price."
The unorthodox cafe is not what Cerreta envisioned when she moved to Utah seven years ago to start an acupuncture clinic. The Ohio native ran her clinic in the basement of the tan-colored office building she bought. She leased the main floor where the One World Cafe is now operating to another restaurant.
But over time, her passion for acupuncture waned and her vision for the cafe became clearer.
"I really felt inspired," she says, so she closed the clinic and took over the restaurant space, painting the walls bright colors and filling the individual rooms -- originally meant as offices -- with cozy furniture where customers dine.
Two months into the business she threw out the cash register and went to self-pricing. It was a liberating experience, she says. "I would never go back."
There were plenty of pessimists who thought people would take advantage of the woman entrepreneur. But Cerreta never doubted humankind, and has been pleasantly surprised at "how fair and genuine people are when given the chance."
The whole concept behind the One World Cafe seems to resonate with people of all socioeconomic classes.
"People who have money tend to pay more because they can. I do because the concept is so cool," says Todd Mangum, a medical doctor at Salt Lake City's Web of Life Wellness Center. Mangum helped Cerreta develop a mission statement and plan for the business.
And those who are less financially stable are encouraged to pay what they can or do yard work or wash dishes in trade.
"It's an exchange, a hand-up," Cerreta says. "A hand-out is not what I'm about."
Cerreta says she makes enough to buy the food and pay the rent and utilities.
For those who live in the area, the One World Cafe has become a neighborhood favorite. It is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Regular customers helped name the restaurant, dubbing it One World after Cerreta hung the green and blue Earth drawing above the front porch. The name is nowhere on the front of the building.
The cafe's largest clientele comes from the Utah College of Massage Therapy, the neighboring business to the north.
Josh Jones, an instructor at the college, was initially taken aback, like most first-time diners.
"It's such a role reversal. I pay you for what you serve me?" he says. He now returns two or three times a week for lunch or in the mid-afternoon to snack on one of Cerreta's popular "anything" cookies, which she makes with whatever happens to be around, from coconut and carob to pecans and peanuts.
Cerreta says she lacks specific culinary training, but has a passion for using fresh, organic foods and knack for putting the right food and flavors together. She worked at a restaurant during her college days, but "hated it."
"She's fearless because she is doing something that a lot of people would never attempt," says Eric Bell, the chef at Salt Lake City's Squatters's Brew Pub. Bell learned of One World Cafe through a friend and now is a regular customer. He helps Cerreta with culinary questions.
The whole premise of the One World Cafe "caters to your whole spirit," says Bell, "not just your stomach."
kathys@sltrib.com
