Entrepreneur behind Wreckfish in Liverpool and Burnt Truffle in Wirral will launch Pinion in Eccleston Street on September 28 thanks to a £50,000 crowdfunding campaign. Tony McDonough reports

Leading North West chef and restaurateur Gary Usher will open his fifth restaurant at the end of September supported by a £50,000 crowdfunding campaign.

Mr Usher, who already runs establishment in Liverpool, Wirral, Chester and Manchester, will open Pinion in Prescot on Friday, September 28. The £50,000 raised towards the venture was generated in just one hour.

He opened his first restaurant, Sticky Walnut, in Hoole in Chester. In 2011. After a period of successful trading the entrepreneur decided he wanted to open a second restaurant but struggled to raise cash from banks.

Multiple backers

Instead, he launched his first crowdfunding campaign, raising £100,000 from 891 backers and Burnt Truffle opened its doors in Heswall on the Wirral in July 2015. Another £60,000 was raised in 2016 to open Hispi in Manchester.

Mr Usher then brought the same model to Liverpool, opening Wreckfish in October 2016 after raising £200,000.

He says he was attracted to Prescot through recent efforts and local 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.

Laid back

It will feature the other restaurant’s signature ‘laid back, bistro style’ in Eccleston Street in the town centre. Mr Usher said: “It has been a long time coming but we’re finally ready to open Pinion.

“I’m so excited to be bringing this little bistro to Prescot because the people we’ve met along the way have been incredible and their support unbelievable.  There’s something exciting happening in Prescot at the minute and we’re just really enjoying being a part of it.”

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Open Wednesday to Sunday, the bistro will serve a lunch and early evening menu, as well as an à la carte menu from 6pm and a Sunday lunch menu.

The menus include dishes such as chicken liver pate, battered haddock and chips, whole Camembert, braised featherblade of beef, sea bream fillet, butternut squash and mozzarella arancini, dark chocolate mousse with crushed honeycomb and Steamed lemon suet sponge.