Chef entrepreneur opens fifth restaurant, with Manchester now in sights

Gary Usher’s fifth restaurant, Pinion, has opened in Prescot, Merseyside, with a VIP launch event following a hugely successful, record-breaking crowdfunding campaign which raised £50,000 in less than an hour.

Around £16,000 was raised in the first 15 minutes of the Kickstarter campaign, with more than 200 backers.

By the first 30 minutes, the figure had reached £31,405, and by 10pm the full £50,000 had been achieved.

Four months since the chef entrepreneur and his team launched their fourth crowdfunding campaign to open a bistro on Prescot’s high street, a sold-out, ticketed launch event hosted crowdfunding pledgees, friends, family and VIPs.

Guests enjoyed samples from the Pinion menu, including beef featherblade croquette, pickled walnut, squash arincini, mozzarella, tomato and gordal olive, crispy duck heart tarragon mayonnaise, white chicory, stilton, walnut and apple, cured mackerel, pickled cucumber and roasted beetroot and fresh cream profiterole, salted caramel.

Gary Usher said: “The response we have received to Pinion has been completely humbling.

“As soon as I first visited the site and met some of the locals, I knew that we had to open a restaurant here and the feedback since has been incredible from both Prescot and further afield.

“Even when we were finishing off the build, we had people queueing up to see the menu or offer their help and when we opened reservations, we received over 500 bookings in the first afternoon.

“We’re just so pleased that we’re finally open and looking forward to serving up some lovely food in the heart of Prescot.”

Gary was initially drawn to Prescot through recent efforts by the community and Knowsley Council initiatives to raise the profile of the town and regenerate the high street.

Pinion, named as a nod to the town’s watchmaking history, is the fifth restaurant in the ‘Elite Bistro’s of the World’ group and features the other restaurant’s signature ‘laid back, bistro style’ on Eccleston Street in the town centre.

Cllr Tony Brennan, Knowsley Council’s cabinet member for regeneration and economic development, said: “Pinion is the first new restaurant to open on Eccleston Street in around 30 years and there has been a lot of excitement around it.

“Prescot already has a number of great places to eat and drink and Pinion, along with the other new bars and restaurants, are enhancing this offer and helping to attract even more people into Prescot, making it a place that people want to visit and spend time.”

Open Wednesday-Sunday, the 70-cover bistro serves a lunch and early evening menu, as well as an A la Carte from 6pm and a Sunday lunch menu.

Gary already has his sights set on expanding his business offer, and revealed plans to open up in Manchester next.