Conspiracy Bar none

Don’t let the name have you imagining midnight deals, rebellion plots, or other illegal activities. While the name Conspiracy Bar and Restaurant seems to exude images of suspicious activities, it’s actually just a place where one can chill out and perhaps temporarily escape from the scourges of reality. Well, in a way, it’s a conspiracy of sorts and a very radical one at that. Radical in the sense that this restaurant/bar/coffeeshop has 90 co-conspirators, a.k.a. shareholders (and probably counting). Blame it on its six core conspirators – musicians Gary Granada, Noel Cabangon, Cookie Chua, Bayang Barrios, Cynthia Alexander, and Joey Ayala, the restaurant’s unofficial spokesperson ("Only because I’m the most talkative," says Joey.)

Trust artists to think of such a novel way to run a business. What began as a kuwentuhan with the six artists’ common accountant friend Ruth Floresca became a brainstorming session and after a meeting of the minds, resulted in the birth of Conspiracy Bar and Restaurant. It was like a rebellion of sorts in that it was a direct challenge to so-called sound business sense – a move that could easily give any conservative businessman a heart attack. "It was a very spontaneous decision. Wala lang. It goes against common sense. It’s practically a cooperative. I don’t know if it’s gonna work. Who knows, it might or it might not," says Joey matter-of-factly. This seemingly haphazard foray into the world of business actually has a system, but it’s something that only artists could understand and perhaps successfully undertake. Free spirits as they are, their way of handling this venture doesn’t follow the norms of traditional business.

The restaurant, Joey explains, was so named because the owners’ natural network are NGO workers and activists (although they also have government workers and their other clients are government office workers around the Quezon Circle). "Magkikita-kita dito at dito magco-conspire," says Joey in jest.

The owners tell us that they have no illusions as to the kind of image the bar cum restaurant portrays. "What you see is what you get. If there’s any magic here, it’s the fact that it’s actually running with so many owners," says Joey, adding that its image, whatever it may be, will evolve and change just like everything else in this world. They are currently experimenting and getting a feel of things.

The entrance of Conspiracy leads into a spacious garden setting that draws in a sizeable crowd come dinnertime. Entering the house, one will pass by a hallway leading to either the music room or the coffeeshop. As an added treat, visual arts exhibit will be mounted every once in a while. The coffeeshop’s warm colors and batibot chairs will make you wax nostalgic about those misty mornings and hot lazy afternoons in your lola’s house. The music room comes alive at night with live performances by local musicians.

Eclectic is the term when describing the whole place. Each area has its own charm courtesy of the inputs of the co-conspirators themselves. The interiors, says Joey, was mostly done by Cynthia Alexander (a painter in her own right) while Cookie Chua took care of the carpentry and electrical jobs. Bayang Barrios, meanwhile, is the treasurer. ""Gary Granada is the natural leader in the group and is the prime mover of the whole thing. Noel Cabangon, on the other hand, is a very good businessman. He’s a trained accountant although he’s not doing books right now," adds Joey, who is an economics graduate.

In a way, Conspiracy Bar and Restaurant is a creative work in progress which these artists – and the community that supports them – are painstakingly taking care of. It’s a creative expression expressed in a practical manner, if you will.

"Though we are not restaurateurs, we’re all entrepreneurs one way or another. It’s just that we express ourselves with music as our product," he says.

With so many hands in the cookie jar, so to speak, differences of opinion arise once in a while. But being like-minded souls, they resolve these conflicts quickly. "We process and talk about it. We’re more or less articulate people, we’re artists and we express ourselves. Madali naman kaming mag-usap," says Joey, adding that this whole exercise has been a learning experience for him. "Hey, I’m learning something here and might even earn some money in the process."

At the moment, Conspiracy Bar and Restaurant is a favorite meeting place of government workers, NGO workers, even politicians. No, Joey is not bothered about the place being a popular venue for political meetings (presidential aspirant Raul Roco and his supporters, as well as the Akbayan group have held meetings there). They go there, eat, have a meeting and pay. It’s a business plain and simple. Everybody is welcome.

A quick check on the menu items reveals a wide range of choices – from meat and chicken dishes, to seafood to vegetarian and pasta and more – all at very affordable prices. We tried the restaurant’s fish tempura and we loved it. It wasn’t oily, wasn’t smothered in batter, but it was very fresh and light. An interesting entry caught our eye: Bignay tea, which comes from a locally grown tree and is said to have cleansing properties. It tastes almost like tuba. Almost but not quite. An acquired taste definitely.

Having formally opened only last December 8, the place is getting more popular through word-of-mouth each passing day. They are currently working on expanding their coffeeshop offerings such as introducing local coffees from different regions in the country. It’s open for lunch and dinner until the wee hours of the morning, depending on the crowd. But definitely, the place is a popular haunt during weekends.

While the place is enjoying a steady stream of supporters, and is getting quite good feedback, Joey and company are keeping their feet firmly on the ground. "We don’t know what’s going to happen with Conspiracy but we shall see. Kung bagsak, di bagsak. Kung hindi eh di maganda," he says.

Joey says he and his fellow conspirators will be very honest and practical about this particular business venture. One thing’s for sure, he says smiling, Conspiracy will keep no secrets.

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Conspiracy Bar and Restaurant is located along Visayas Ave. in Quezon City, with tel. no. 453-2170.