HISPI has found a nest at last. As predicted, in deepest Didsbury. Which may further ruffle the feathers of all those Chorltonites who bolstered chef Gary Usher’s crowdfunding campaign, which raised £58,650 for his new restaurant destined originally for their patch.
Usher (below) has acquired the Jem & I site on School Lane, a bite-size bistro that mirrors his hugely successful 40-cover Sticky Walnut in Chester (its sibling Burnt Truffle in Heswall is a bigger beast).
He has commented on the Hispi Bistro Kickstarter page: "Our vision was to bring our relaxed style of bistro to the south of Manchester, specifically Charlton, because we were offered an empty unit there. The Chorlton site fell through.
"I recruited staff, websites were done, furniture bought – all for the Chorlton site. We pick ourselves up and we move on. We continued to look in Chorlton but there has been nothing suitable, which brings us to today... a deposit has been put down on the Jem & I site in Didsbury Village.
"I should be more excited than 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.”
Jem & I has occupied a former bank for well over a decade after chef Jem O’Sullivan returned to his Didsbury roots after earning Michelin Bib Gourmands at the city centre Lincoln (now Wings). In recent times the restaurant’s profile has dipped, hence the arrivalof Hispi (food geek note: it’s a kind of cabbage)
It will serve “neighbourhood bistro grub”, along similar lines to the group’s existing sites, including fresh bread, Sunday roast meats, “some kind of sticky braised meat”, cheesy truffle chips and a wide range of baked fruit tarts. It is expected to open by August.
Check out @HispiBistro for updates.