Episodes

Current Season 1

Episode 3: Back to the funda-lentils

Air Date: 11 February 2010 8:30 PM

Lentil as Anything, the dream of Sri-Lankan migrant Shanaka Fernando, is in freefall. His chain of pay-as-u-feel restaurants owe a whopping $160,000 to their suppliers, and after a bitter split over how to rescue the crippled organization from bankruptcy, Shanaka’s two best managers have both resigned. Now it’s down to Shanaka to find some way to keep the doors open – not just for his customers but for the 100 or so people who rely on Lentil for work, support and in some cases visa sponsorship.

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Episode 2: The red lentil

Air Date: 4 February 2010 8:30 PM

Shanaka Fernando’s dream - a chain of pay-as-u-feel restaurants providing great food to everyone whether they can afford it or not, and staffed by migrants and other marginalised people – has had a brutal wake-up call. The organization is bleeding money and his managers, Grace and Ramesh, are battling almost $100,000 in unpaid debts. They’re facing imminent closure if they can’t find a way to turn it around. But Shanaka is not going to let his dream die that easily, and convinces the team to take one more huge risk…

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Episode 1: Are you completely lentil?

Air Date: 28 January 2010 8:30 PM

Sri-Lankan migrant Shanaka Fernando has been running Lentil as Anything, an eccentric collection of pay-as-u-feel restaurants built on generosity and trust, for nine years and counting. The food is good, the atmosphere is more like a friend’s lounge room, and the cash in the money-boxes (there are no prices or cash registers) has been enough to keep them going... until now.