3p a minute! UK's first café that charges fee just to be there
opens in East London
•
•
•
Café Ziferblat offers customers all-you-can-eat biscuits and endless tea
It charges for time spent, and customers must prepare their own coffee
They must even wash up their own dishes
By Amie Keeley
PUBLISHED: 23:56 GMT, 8 January 2014 | UPDATED: 23:58 GMT, 8 January 2014
It's a café that offers all-you-can-eat biscuits, endless cups of tea and unlimited WiFi.
The only catch? You have to pay for your stay. The UK’s first pay-per-minute café Ziferblat, which means clock face in Russian, charges
customers 3p for every minute they spend inside.
When guests arrive at the East London café they take a clock from the cupboard and keep it with them until they leave.
They then make their own coffee or prepare food – and sometimes even wash their own dishes.
Inspiration: The new London branch of Russian cafe Ziferblat - which means clock face - charges customers 3p a minute to be there, but in exchange offers all-you-can-eat
biscuits endless cups of tea and unlimited WiFi
Utopian: The idea is to create a 'free space' where customers are treated more like 'micro-tenants'
The model has already proven popular in Russia, where Ziferblat’s owner, Ivan Mitin, owns nine other branches and welcomes 30,000
customers a month.
The café has been described as more of a social experiment born out of the owner’s utopian dream.
The idea is to create a ‘free space’ where customers are treated more like ‘micro-tenants’, as opposed to customers.
During their visit, they can make their own coffee from the professional machine and prepare their own food in the kitchen or have it made for
them.
Hipsters: The London branch of Ziferblat is in trendy Old Street, Shoreditch
Quirky: The café is furnished with unusual furniture, an antique piano, and a selection of books
The London branch of Ziferblat, in trendy Old Street, is furnished with unusual furniture, an antique piano, and a selection of books.
Mr Mitin said during the first month of the UK opening, they have already drawn in some regulars.
He said yesterday: ‘Londoners are more prepared for such a concept; they understand the idea instantly.
'It’s funny to see people queuing here to wash their dishes. It’s not obligatory, but it’s appreciated.
‘They even wash each other’s dishes. It’s very social. We think of our guests as micro tenants, all sharing the same space.’
Find this story at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2536221/3p-minute-UKs-caf-charges-fee-just-opens-East-London.html
Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd
Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group
© Associated Newspapers Ltd
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2536221/3p-minute-UKs-caf-charges-fee-just-opens-East-London.html#ixzz2psfTpeFE