“ELITE Bistro’s of the World… what sort of name is that?”
“I know, it’s ridiculous, but my solicitor said I could name the company anything… the best thing is we only have three restaurants.”
“And you know that’s a rogue apostrophe…”
“Yes, but it winds everybody up, so I kept it.”
Having ignored just about every page of the Restaurant Marketing 101 handbook (including posting negative TripAdvisor reviews of his own restaurants and advising national restaurant critics ‘not to bother’) whilst narrowly avoiding a rumble with a bolshie local butcher (who, let’s be honest, had it coming), Chef Gary Usher will, against considerable odds, launch his third Kickstarter-funded bistro, Hispi, this week.
The unlikely restaurateur – who cut his teeth in the Michelin-starred Chez Bruce before working under the likes of Angela Hartnett and Jamie Oliver – took Confidential on an exclusive first look around the new cabbage-inspired (both in name and colour) Didsbury restaurant earlier today, which follows the success of Burnt Truffle in Heswall and the AA 'Restaurant of the Year' winning Sticky Walnut in Chester.
Take it away Gary...
Taking over the former Jem & I site on School Lane, Hispi is a lesson in simplicity and warmth. "It sounds cliché but I like my restaurants to feel like walking into someone’s home,” Gary tells us, pointing to staff photos lining the walls, cabinets crafted from old Indian window frames, and tiles found in a local salvage merchants.
Though it seems some tinker has defiled the mirror…
“Oh they’re the names of donors who helped us pay for this place,” says a beaming Usher.
I don’t have the heart to tell him one blast of Windex will see to that lot, though I do have the stomach for dishes such as gin-cured sea trout (£8), braised featherblade (£17) and parkin with butterscotch (£5.50), overseen by former Aumbry chef, Richard Sharples.
Hispi are offering punters 50% off on Wednesday 5 and Thursday 6 October, and whilst nearly all evening tables are gone, you can still bag a lunch time slot by booking ahead.
If not, drop by any lunch time for a very reasonable two courses for £16 or three for £19, or in the evenings where three courses begin at around £30.
Hispi, 1C School Lane, Didsbury, Manchester M20 6RD. Tel: 0161 445 3996.
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