The KC restaurant community suffered a devastating loss this week. Chef Shaun Brady, owner of Brookside restaurant Brady and Fox, was fatally shot on Wednesday. His passing took place just days before this weekend’s annual Irish Fest, which Brady helped organize.
According to KCUR, the shooting took place right outside Brady’s restaurant. Brady was taking out the trash when he encountered a possible car burglary in progress. Two teens were charged in Jackson County family court on Friday with second degree murder in connection with Brady’s murder.
Brady was a popular chef, with many of the hospitality community remembering him fondly as a beloved Irishman. The married 44-year-old and father of two, was one of the KC’s Irish Fest organizers. The festival takes place this weekend from Friday, Aug. 30 to Sunday, Sept. 1, at Crown Center.
The festival has canceled Brady’s Kansas City Irish Breakfast, “a joyful tradition following our Catholic Mass the Sunday of the festival weekend,” according to their Instagram post. Instead, the mass will be a place for those who knew and loved Brady to gather and remember him.
“His extraordinary culinary gifts and easy Irish charm made his table the favorite gathering place of Kansas City’s Irish community,” the Instagram post reads. “He will be sorely missed.”
The Irish Fest board of directors also created a memorial fund. All proceeds will be given to Brady’s family. Although the Irish Fest has encouraged the public to donate $45, the ticket price for Brady’s Irish Breakfast, the GoFundMe account has already raised more than $100,000 within just 24 hours.
KC’s hospitality community has taken to social media to express its grief and anger over “a senseless act of violence.” Many have called upon Mayor Quinton Lucas, imploring Lucas to take more firm action toward the increased property crime in Kansas City.
We reviewed Brady and Fox in 2022. In the review, Brady passionately describes cottage pie’s origins and wanting his restaurant to bring back “the family meal.” Read the late chef’s review here.
