Celebrity chef Gary Usher has announced the closure of one his award-winning restaurants.
He’s shared today that Burnt Truffle, part of his Elite Bistros enterprise and the restaurant that launched his Crowdfunding business model, has ‘closed for good’.
The acclaimed restaurant opened almost a decade ago, with hundreds of prospective customers investing in the business in exchange for vouchers to spend when the doors opened.
Following the success of that, Gary Usher went on to run Kickstarters for several other restaurants, including Kala in Manchester city centre and Hispi in Didsbury.
The group’s most recent opening was The White Horse in 2023, its first venture into the world of pubs.
Elite Bistros has been a rare example of a neighbourhood restaurant that’s managed to weather the sh*tstorm of rising costs that has hit hospitality since 2020 – until now.
Burnt Truffle has closed with immediate effect, with Usher saying he’s ‘never been able to make it work here’.
He stressed that all suppliers, VAT and rent is paid, that the staff who have sadly been made redundant have also been paid, and that anyone with vouchers to spend can do so at the remaining Elite Bistros sites.
Gary Usher announcing the closure of Burnt Truffle today. Credit: X, GaryUsher_Burnt Truffle has closed with immediate effect. Instagram, @burnt_truffle
He said: “I need to share some news with you and unfortunately it’s not great news. I’m sat here in Burnt Truffle and we are now closed. We’re closed for good.
“I had a 10 year lease and that lease has come to an end. I could have renewed that lease but the honest truth is I’ve never been able to make it work here.
“I’ve been quite vocal about how difficult the government have made it over the last few years, but ultimately I’ve never been able to make it work here, so the best business decision for us is to close.”
Some news.@BuRntTruffle is now closed. Thank you to all the team & all the guests over the last 10 years. Our lease has come to an end & we have decided to part ways. All our bills are paid & all vouchers will be redeemed. From all of us at Burnt Truffle, Thank you & good night. pic.twitter.com/r9eisksJwb
He continued: “It’s a sad day, it really is. You know, when I think back to when we opened here, we had the likes of Jay Rayner and Lisa Markwell coming, and we got two rosettes quite quickly too.
“We were the first crowdfunded restaurant in the UK with non-investment crowdfunding. So that started our journey with crowdfunding, actually.
“So what does it mean for the business moving forward? Well, we carry on. We just keep going, we keep trying, and we keep innovating to get through these tough times. And, and that’s it really.
“Thank you to everyone that came, thank you to all the team. Thanks to all the guests. We’ve loved being in Heswall. We’ve loved being in Burnt Truffle, but that’s the end.”
Lively Irish pub Nancy Spains set to open in Manchester for the first time
Daisy Jackson
An Irish bar famed for its live music is heading up to Manchester for the first time, and is promising £2.50 pints to lure us in.
Nancy Spains will be venturing out of London for the first time promising to bring the ‘ultimate traditional Irish pub experience’ to the Northern Quarter.
If you were to ask what the hottest trend in hospitality is right now the answer would, apparently, be Guinness. We’re drowning in the stuff.
This latest opening is more about Murphy’s, another Irish stout, than Guinness (they actually won’t serve Guinness at all) but the craic will be much the same.
Nancy Spains is actually set to open almost directly opposite the aforementioned Salmon of Knowledge, taking over the former Corner Boy unit on Stevenson Square in the heart of Manchester.
To celebrate its opening, the pub will be serving its first 5000 pints of Murphy’s for just £2.50, so that it can show off the atmosphere that’s established it as ‘one of London’s favourite pubs’.
They’re promising an array of Irish whiskeys behind the bar, live music performances, and a lively late-night setting.
Nancy Spains was set up by three brothers who travelled all over their home county of rural Kerry researching Irish pubs, before launching two venues down in London.
They want it to balance a traditional pub with the vibrancy of the city.
Peter O’Halloran, co-founder of Nancy Spains commented, “We’re so excited to be launching in Manchester, bringing Nancy Spains to the heart of the Northern Quarter.
“After the success of our two venues in London, it was only right to bring Nancy Spains’ infectious spirit and Irish pride to Manchester. Slainte!”
Nancy Spains will open its first Manchester pub on Saturday 15 March at 21 Hilton Street.
Lucky Mama’s – The Italian restaurant serving pasta in a dough bowl and ‘pregnant’ pizzas
Daisy Jackson
Lucky Mama’s is a local sensation, thanks to its slightly whacky but delicious Italian creations like pasta served in a bowl made of pizza dough and its latest offering, a ‘pregnant’ pizza.
What on Earth is a pregnant pizza, you ask? Firstly we should stress this is a nickname we’ve bestowed upon the dish, rather than Lucky Mama’s chosen branding.
But essentially it’s a helping of fresh pasta that’s folded into the bubble crust of the pizza, like a half-calzone.
Lucky Mama’s started life when founders Mamadou Dhiam and Gaby Santos set up a trailer in their backyard in Eccles in the depths of lockdown.
But thanks to a formidably loyal following that’s spread the word of Lucky Mama’s far and wide, it now has two pretty pink restaurants in Greater Manchester.
Back in 2022, they threw open the doors to their Chorlton restaurant, before returning back to home turf for spot number two in Monton in 2024.
The recipes are fresh and pretty authentically Italian up until the last step, when they throw a curveball by loading their pasta into unconventional vessels.
‘Pregnant’ pizzas at Lucky Mama’sTraditional Roman pizzasLucky Mama’s pink restaurant in Chorlton
Their pasta pizza bowls are what they’re best known for and they fly out of the kitchen – this is where pizza dough is placed around a metal bowl before being baked in an oven.
Then it’s piled high with freshly made pasta, with popular flavours like cacio e pepe, mushroom alfredo, and rasta pasta.
Pasta is available in a regular ceramic bowl too.
You’ll find Lucky Mama’s at 565 Barlow Moor Road in Chorlton; and 217 Monton Road in Eccles.
Daisy Jackson -
8th January 2025 
