CLOSURE | Chorlton Wine Bar Bistro Calls It A Day

Gordo is irritated.

For the past three months, the fat ginger balding Celt has been trying to finish a review of The Cellar Key. He was arranging to get down there on Thursday to finally get the pictures and freshen up his mind on it.

Then a press release hits the desk: The Cellar Key is to close in February…

Great big fat fucking shame this. Great food, super example of a useful neighbourhood restaurant which is actually worth travelling to.

A worthy antidote to pasteurized knotweed chains.

The excellent and eclectic wine list and the way it was served, with some stunners by the glass, showed enthusiasm and a commitment to detail. So, why are they closing?

Gordo's been thinking this through. Over the past ten years he has seen many independents go. All of which were lovely. Thinking them through, they each had two similarities: not enough covers to reach (an acceptable) level of profit when busy and a belief they could open on a shoestring without marketing.

Gordo comes from a family of butchers. His great grandad, Frank Garner, opened 36 successful shops from Salford, down through Levenshulme and into Edgeley, Stockport. The week before opening every shop he had five thousand leaflets printed. These, Gordo’s grandad, his Dad and then later him, had to deliver to every house within a twenty minute walk.

The common message from 1893? “Come in and try The Garner difference: quality and affordability. Bring this leaflet to the shop and you will receive 1lb of the finest stewing steak for FREE, no questions asked.”

Then, when Butchers were no longer allowed to have open windows, my grandad, looking at the glass frontage, went home, got a bucket of white wash and painted “Two Lamb chops, FREE” on the window.

Then, Gordo’s dad, having opened the first food and freezer centre in the North West, Thoro Fare in Handforth, added to the mix of leaflets and white-washed windows with a quarter page advert on the last Thursday of each month in the Wilmslow and Stockport Advertiser: “Sugar: half price. Minced beef: half priced." The Thoro Fare supermarkets were sold in 1977 for millions.

There is a four in five failure rate in small owner-managed local restaurants. The lesson? Don't open without a marketing plan. Not many can manipulate social media like The Sticky Walnut lot in Cheshire. Gary Usher, the chef-proprietor, is brilliant at it. He’s a firm one in five.

Andy Leathley, owner of Cellar Key, delivered a great experience. He’s the real deal. In other circumstances he may have gotten away with it. But once again, not enough covers in Gordo’s opinion. Still, Andy, don’t give up. Find a bigger place and make sure you put your back into marketing. You can’t sell if you don’t tell.