Living on a prayer, and rockstar Bon Jovi’s food

You go to the restaurant and see the menu. There is tofu teriyaki with vegetable fried rice. You could also have the Cubano sandwich with meats, Swiss cheese, pickles and Dijon aioli on French bread. Maybe some turkey meatball sliders for the kids?

You place your order. Then you peek behind the counter and see a man doing dishes. He is rocker Jon Bon Jovi, with a personal net worth of a mere $400 million.

The raspy-voiced singer of hits like ‘Living on a Prayer’ and ‘You Give Love a Bad Name’ has been running community eateries in New Jersey since 2011. The idea for the initiative – called JBJ Soul Kitchen – came from Bon Jovi’s wife Dorothea. After the coronavirus hit, amidst mounting job losses and pay cuts, the restaurants have gotten busier. And their high profile owner often helps out with the pots and pans.

In an interview with the BBC a few days ago, Bon Jovi, 58, said, "It's not just the poor (who are affected by the pandemic), it's everybody who has a job. It's your blue collar family that had a job on March 1, and on March 15 there was no more paycheck. So by April 1, they were knocking on the door at the kitchen, saying, ‘Hi, we could use a meal’."

Before COVID-19 engulfed the planet, Bon Jovi was scheduled to spend these months touring, playing and promoting his latest album, titled ‘2020’. He says the name was decided last year and was driven in part by the US Presidential election, nothing else. But as the world went into quarantine, the album launch was cancelled. So Bon Jovi went to work in the community kitchen to wash dishes, sometimes five days a week. In March, Dorothea posted a picture of the singer busy at the kitchen sink.

"The in-need still need to eat, specially now. They don’t have other restaurants giving them lunch and breakfast," Bon Jovi told radio host Howard Stern in another interview.

Like U2’s Bono and Bruce Springsteen, among others, Bon Jovi has used his music and name to speak out about causes. Songs in his latest album, some of which were added in recent weeks, are about themes such as gun control and the Black Lives Matter movement.

"George Floyd called out for his mom," Bon Jovi told the BBC . "A grown man, calling out for his mom as he's down on the ground with a knee on his neck. My eyes welled up with tears. So I do what I do, and I grabbed my guitar and locked myself away and I wrote the song."

Amidst the gloom, the Soul Kitchen remains a heart-, and stomach-, warming chapter that provides sustenance to the hungry and a kind of fulfillment to Bon Jovi that comes only from giving. According to the restaurant’s website, they have served 127,610 meals so far. Those who can pay are billed $20 for a full meal. If the fare sounds a bit high, it is because it covers for those who can’t pay.

The efforts of Mr and Mrs Bon Jovi are laudable. Will they stir into action celebrities who are happy to cut ribbons for a fat fee and go back to their ivory towers and $1000 Louis Vuitton masks? Will business fat cats be inspired to “give back”, something which they often talk about but rarely do? Chances are slim. To them, all we can say is, "You give privilege a bad name".