Photos by Alexandra Scoville
Dozens of people gathered at Bragg’s Factory Diner Saturday night and huddled in a warehouse behind the restaurant away from the pouring rain, ready to get lost in local music — and some pie.
The free event, called “We Don’t Mean To Bragg… But We Play Music, Too!” celebrated the Grand Avenue-restaurant’s first year as one of the few vegan restaurants in downtown Phoenix.
Liam James T. Murtagh, one of the owners of Bragg’s, said the event mirrors the “Showbot” show at Jobot Coffee and Dining, where Jobot employees perform with their music projects.
While planning the birthday bash, Murtagh was under the impression that Jobot was not going to host the event and almost decided to borrow the name.
“A handful of us used to work at Jobot and we were originally going to call this show Showbot just to mess with them,” Murtagh said. “But now they’re doing it late, so we just changed the name.”
Murtagh said the show has a good chance at becoming an annual event.
The celebration included performances by the local bands Diners, JJCnV, Blanche Beach, Dogbreath, Liam and the Ladies, French Girls and Mr. Atom’s Bombs. As the bands played, the grey warehouse was filled with color, in part thanks to a cotton candy-blue vegan birthday cake and band members’ kids throwing confetti.
All seven bands either included a member who works at Bragg’s or who played with someone that does.
One musician, Tristan Jemsek, performed with four of the bands that evening.
“The people that started Bragg’s, they’re some of my oldest friends,” Jemsek said. “I’ve been playing music with them for a very long time. It’s a really special place for me. Just being able to work with your best friends everyday is a really great privilege.”
The musical performances went from 5-10 p.m., only stopping for a pie-eating contest. Six people competed in the contest, in which contenders had to eat a 9-inch blueberry pie.
Attendee Natalie Cole came out on top as the victor of vegan consumption.
“It’s free pie, I don’t really understand why people were hesitant (to sign up),” she said.
Cole won a gift certificate to Grand Avenue neighbor Abloom Salon, car wash supplies from Clean Freak Car Wash, and a gift certificate to Bragg’s. She also holds a title on the Bragg’s Hall of Fame, the first to be inducted.
“I’ve only been to Bragg’s once, but it’s pretty cool,” Cole said. “Now that I have this gift certificate I’ll definitely be back.”
The five other contestants all received car wash supplies from Clean Freak as well.
In the short time that Bragg’s has been open for business, it has made a strong impact on the community.
“We wanted to open so we could offer more vegan and vegetarian opportunities,” Murtagh said. “I think we’ve also been a part of, through sheer dumb luck, the newfound support of the city seeing something open and vibrant (on Grand Avenue).”
The restaurant supports other local places to get products like produce and coffee, like Xanadu Coffee Co. They also plan to work with Farmyard, a local organization that helps to set up microfarms in people’s yards and sells produce through a weekly subscription. Bragg’s will also provide compost to the Grand Avenue herb garden.
Murtagh said the Bragg’s crew opened the restaurant with nothing to lose.
“We just went for it,” he said. “We have had a lot of dumb luck, a lot of help, and learned a lot of things the hard way, and it’s been awesome.”
Contact the reporter at Rebecca.Brisley@asu.edu
