'Pay as you feel'

Not-for-profit entrepreneur, Shanaka Fernando, wins Victoria's Australian of the Year Award

by Aditha Dissanayake

If you ever happen to be on Melbourne's busy Ackland street eating strip, do remember to step into the compact eatery reminiscent of a communal, bohemian hang-out, with rickety painted tables, embroidered cushions and a cluttered courtyard dining area, crammed with diners even on a week day afternoon.

You may have to wait for a table or perch on a wobbly bar stool in a corner to eat. But the aromatic fusion of incense and spices and the food itself, ranging from malai kofta to Japanese pancakes, toasted vegies to tofu burgers and above all Sri Lankan rice and curry prepared by Sri Lankan chefs will be worth the time and the discomfort.

Especially so, when at the end of the meal, all you have to do is push any amount of money you feel is appropriate for the food and the drinks you have had, into a till on the way out the door. Didn't quite catch that? Its true. At Lentil as Anything there are no bills. You simply pay what you can afford or what you think the food deserves.

The not-for-profit entrepreneur behind this delightful haunt, Shanaka Fernando, an old boy of Royal College, Colombo sees his Lentil as Anything restaurants as a social experiment which encourages people to have an internal conversation with their conscience and their own ethics.

Describing his concept of 'pay as you feel' as a challenge to the consumerist society we live in, Shanaka says his non-profit incorporated association is a celebration of compassion, individuality and artistic expression which encourages people to step outside the rules, regulations and red tape that permeate our daily existence.

Having no fixed prices Lentil as Anything' rely on the customers' honesty and generosity to pay what they deem is a reasonable price for the meal and the services provided.

Surprising though this may seem, this anathema to standard business practice actually works. For, since Shanaka relinquished his personal capital in the first restaurant and turned it into a cooperative and youth training enterprise, the business has grown into four restaurants employing about eighty young people and providing space for artists and writers to nurture their creative abilities in true hippie spirits.

Barbara Chapman, a teacher at AMES Education, praising Shanaka for his endeavour says "I have never seen anything that has been so helpful in breaking down barriers and helping to heal the wounds inflicted by some of the most destructive events in world history as Lentil as Anything has collectively achieved.

It is heartening to see that Shanaka's efforts at establishing the "Lentil as Anything" concept has not gone unnoticed. He is the recipient of Victoria's Australian of the year Award, and is a national finalist in the Australian of the Year Awards to be announced by the Prime Minister in Canberra on January 25, 2007.

His father Neville Fernando, still finding it hard to come to terms with this piece of good news asks in wonder "What has he done to deserve this?" The answer is clear. Shanaka has been recognised for what he has offered to society by establishing the Lentil as Anything concept setting a wholly successful example of how a commercial enterprise can be operated on a socially responsible, idealistic and altruistic basis and still be financially successful and popular with the public.

Whether you have a coriander pesto, a warm Vietnamese salad, a stir fry on rice or a mixed curry plate for two, the servings are guaranteed to be generous and spiced to perfection.

You may pay fifty cents or fifty dollars - depending on how much you can afford. Or pay more than the probable menu price, out of feelings of good will or guilt.

Whatever you feel is worth the food, Lentil as Anything is surely an absolute must, whenever you are in Melbourne.

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