GARY Usher – the chef behind AA Restaurant of the Year 2014 Sticky Walnut and the Burnt Truffle in Heswall – has revealed the location of his third Kickstarter-funded bistro, Hispi.
Here’s the thing. The Chorlton site fell through. Not only is that not your fault, it’s not mine either - Gary Usher
Following a number of setbacks in Chorlton, Usher announced last month that he’d widened his search parameters to include rival bourgeois neighbourhood Didsbury – much to the chagrin of some Chorltonite backers who wished to see Usher on their doorstep.
Now the former Chez Bruce upstart - who raised £58,650 from 718 backers in April - has revealed via Kickstarter that he's made an offer on the current Jem & I site on School Lane in Didsbury, which will be winding up operations over the coming weeks.
Shame that, Jem & I (reviewed here in 2014) was once the only Manchester restaurant to be awarded a Bib Gourmand between 2003 and 2006. We still recall those fantastic beetroot falafels with moist, tangy feta sneakily hidden inside.
Jem & I, School Lane, Didsbury‘I’m slightly nervous about writing this Kickstarter update as the last one didn’t quite go according to plan,’ writes Usher with a nod to his critics.
‘Here’s the thing. The Chorlton site fell through,” he continues. “Not only is that not your fault, it’s not mine either.
‘We continued to look in Chorlton but there has been nothing suitable which beings us to today… a desposit has been put down on the Jem & I site in Didsbury Village.
‘I should be more excited that I am but obviously I realise that not all of you will approve. To fix this I am more than happy to privately reimburse anyone who feels that they no longer want to be involved in the project.’
As we’ve said before on these pages, here at Confidential we couldn’t give a monkeys which side of Princess Road the new bistro opens on, just that Usher stops dicking about and cracks on with it.
He tells us that all being well, Hispi should open within ten weeks.
Keep an eye on @HispiBistro for updates. Here's the menu:
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