Gary Usher's Elite Bistros to launch £95,000 crowdfund for Sticky Walnut

Gary Usher’s Elite Bistros group is set to launch a new crowdfunding campaign to upgrade the kitchen at its Sticky Walnut restaurant in Chester.

The group is aiming to raise £95,000 in 95 hours through a Kickstarter page, which will go live at 8pm on 4 March.

Rewards will include pre-paid meal vouchers, private dinners, aprons, Elite Bistros at Home meal boxes and a chance for supporters to have their name on the wall at the restaurant.

Sticky Walnut opened in 2011 on a shoe-string budget and was the original restaurant in the Elite Bistros group.

Since then, Usher has crowdfunded over £900,000 from 8,000 backers to expand the business to seven restaurants and a pub across the north-west of England.

More than £100,000 was raised to support the launch of its Kala restaurant in Manchester in 2019, making it the fastest funded restaurant project on the platform in the world.

A post on the Elite Bistros website said: “It’s well known that when we were opening Sticky we were doing it on a tight budget. So much so that we had to choose between a new combi-oven or new tables and chairs. We chose the oven.

“And that’s seen us well through the years but it’s 2024 now so it’s high-time for an upgrade.”

The group added: “We’ve done this before. Seven times to be precise. Over the years we’ve successfully crowdfunded over £900,000 through Kickstarters with 8,000 backers supporting us. And truth be told it just works, we know you all like getting involved and seeing the number rise against the clock.

“Yes there are other places we could go to raise the funds needed for this. Banks being one. But we don’t get along very well with them most of the time. So we’d prefer to do things our own tried and tested way.”

Rewards will begin processing as soon as the campaign ends, and the team estimate Sticky Walnut will close towards the end of April or in May for the refurbishment.

To view the Kickstarter page, click here.