All You Can Eat, But Watch the Clock

摘要

With its cheery polka-dot wallpaper, wooden floors, and assemblage of mismatched tables and chairs, the Ziferblat cafe in the trendy London suburb of Shoreditch could pass for any bohemian coffeehouse. The clocks, however, are a clue to the shop's unique business model: They're everywhere, jostling for space on a mantelpiece, parked alongside laptops on tables. Ziferblat means clock-face in Russian and German, a fitting name for an establishment where the coffee, tea, and cookies are free, but patrons pay by the minute to linger.