CHORLTON snubbed in favour of Didsbury Village. It has that “do you want to step outside?” provocation about it. Chef Gary Usher is fighting his corner by insisting his Kickstarter-funded third bistro venture, Hispi, is now diverting to the latter contender after a number of sites in original choice Chorlton fell through.
It may not assuage some backers, who wanted access to Usher’s acclaimed food on their own Chorltonite doorstep and paid up accordingly. Or those Burton Roaders, who probably feel they would prove the perfect destination for the creator of 2014 ‘AA Restaurant of the Year’ Sticky Walnut and Heswall offshoot Burnt Truffle.
Whatever, earlier in the year social media maestro Usher raised £58,650 from 718 backers through Kickstarter in order to open the new restaurant – in Chorlton. After successive sites falling through he was forced to look all of 3.2 miles away, he has posted on the Kickstarter website:
“I drove to Chorlton twice a day, I ate more nuts, I stared through more windows, I got a speeding ticket and a driver’s awareness course. I viewed over 20 sites in Chorlton. I put an offer in on three. One was rejected, one was too neglected and one decided not to sell their business to move abroad! So, I extended my search perimeter which took me to Didsbury…”