THE future of Kala, Gary Usher’s flagship restaurant project on King Street, now hangs on a Kickstarter campaign, commencing at 9pm on Monday, March 11. He has a week then to plug the £100,000 hole in his budget for Kala, scheduled to opening May.
Usher’s five previous ‘Elite Bistros’ had been crowdfundel, but he was reluctant to go down that route this time for Kala, scheduled to open late spring.
Then the ardent Tweeter (70,000 so far, 22,000 followers) put out a personal video on Twitter explaining: “We f***ed up financing this restaurant and I’ve underestimated it completely. There’s certain people asking me how I’ve f***ed it ip so bad and it’s quite a simple answer, the restaurants don’t make a lot of money, they make enough to stay afloat.”
In an emotional speech filmed on a Saturday night in the shell of the new restaurant he explained that his group is not backed by any big London investors or the like.
He said that Hispi in Didsbury takes £18,000 a week, just covering the costs to keep it open. The same applies across all the bistros, which have won national acclaim. Few profits to plough back in, hence the need for the crowdfunding again.
One pal of Usher's determined to help is Michelin-starred telly chef Tom Kerridge, who has offered to cook at a special guest chef night at Hispi on March 25 to raise money for Kala, hose head chef Zhelyazko 'Jiji' Zhelyazkov brings Michelin starred credentials with him from past employers Moor Hall and Raby Hunt.
Last May Usher hit his £50,000 Kickstarter target for Pinion in Prescot in just one hour. Fingers crossed he’s still got the magic touch. ToM’s a fan of his dining template, which will be a fine addition to the city centre.