Gary Usher has revealed that his Heswall-based bistro Burnt Truffle closed its doors today, admitting he had ‘never been able to make it work’.
The chef, who owns a collection of restaurants in and around Manchester, took to X to announce the ‘sad’ news, explaining that the location is ‘closed for good’ after its ten-year lease expired.
The crowdfunded restaurant opened its doors in Heswall in July 2015 after securing £1000,000 in a month from 891 donations, and went on to receive glowing reviews from food critics, including Jay Rayner, and gained two Rosettes.
Usher, sometimes dubbed ‘Britain’s most controversial chef’ thanks to his outspoken opinions, candidly explained that though the government made business ‘difficult’, he ultimately was ‘never able to make it work’.
Despite mourning the loss, he explained that the decision was the best for business and that he has paid all suppliers and staff through a loan, which he will pay back via revenue from his five other restaurants, including the Sticky Walnut in Hoole, Chester,
‘Some news,’ he said on X, continuing, ‘@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.’
Usher explained further in a video posted to the platform, saying: ‘I need to share some news with you, and unfortunately, it’s not great news. I’m sitting here in Burnt Truffle, and we are now closed. We’re closed for good.’
The chef continued: ‘So Burnt Truffle, I had a ten-year lease, and that lease has come to an end. I could have renewed that lease, but the honest truth is that 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.
‘The best business decision for us is to close, so we’re closing Burnt Truffle from today.
‘I know there’s going to be lots of questions over the next few days and I’ll answer all of them.’
Usher explained that vouchers purchased for Burnt Truffle are redeemable or they can be used in his other restaurants.
He added: ‘We’ve paid all our bills, so the VAT is paid, all our suppliers are paid, our rent is paid, we have unfortunately had to have made people redundant with the closure of this business, and obviously they’ve been paid. Everybody has been paid.
‘I have a… loan, which I took out in the pandemic, which I still must pay, and I will, through the wider business.
‘Other than that, it feels like it’s been tied up as well as closing a restaurant can be. It is a sad day, it really is.
‘When I think back to when we opened here, they 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.
‘So, what does it mean for the business moving forward? Well, we carry on, we just keep on going, we keep trying and we keep on innovating to get through these tough times.’
Usher concluded: ‘Thank you to everyone that came, thank you to all the team, thank you to all the guests… we’ve loved being in Burnt Truffle, but that’s the end.’
In 2023, Gary caused a storm after hitting back at ‘ridiculous’ complaints about a burger costing nearly £20 at his restaurant.
Gary also made headlines in 2018 after a customer complained about the Sticky Walnut’s lack of ‘customer skills’ after staff were asked to go shop for lemonade for a red wine spritzer.
Gary shot down the customer saying; ‘We often nip out for people’s requests. It’s part of great hospitality. We just don’t do it if you’re a rude c***’.
Gary starred in a Channel 4 documentary in 2019 called The Rebel Chef: My Restaurant Revolution.
The documentary followed the opening of one of his crowdfunded bistros Pinion in the Merseyside Town of Prescot.
In 2020, Usher took aim at a negative review and slammed a customer who said her meal at his restaurant was a ‘rip-off’ in a damning online review.
Emma said the £122 bill for her meal – one course with drinks for two people – was ‘eye-wateringly expensive’, and the price tag was ‘really not worth it’.
Usher claimed she had misunderstood the pricing, and that they could have ordered a three-course set menu for just £39 each, claiming that Emma and her dining companion were ‘rude’ and wouldn’t allow the manager to explain this at the time.
The outspoken chef also went viral in 2021 after hitting back at a customer who wrote a scathing two-star Tripadvisor review.
In the review titled ‘excellent food let down by Ryanair style service’, the diner had blasted the manager for ‘not giving a toss’ about customer service, which Usher vehemently denied.
The unsatisfied diner, known only as Rob V, wrote: ‘The good news is that the food here is very, very tasty and deserves a high rating.
‘The bad news is that the restaurant management doesn’t give a toss about customer experience.
‘I ate here on July 9 had a complaint that was dealt with badly enough by the manager that I wrote to the owner.
‘A restaurant that aspires to offer fine dining experience but has lost the ability to empathise with customers and ignores them when they complain? That really is a shame.’
Usher was quick to respond with his own blistering write-up. He replied: ‘For goodness sake Robert. I’m supposed to be in TwitAdvisor retirement so let’s not waste any time. After all, you’ve waited 11 years since joining Twitadvisor to write your first review.
‘Rob you reserved a table on a Friday evening and agreed to a 1 hour 45 minute time slot. A standard practice, particularly on busy periods, that guests and restaurants worldwide agree to.
‘After your dessert course the Manager, who you said “doesn’t give a toss”, gently reminded you that we would need the table back shortly. You ignored the Manager and proceeded to order another round of drinks.
‘Perhaps if your party had arrived on time for your reservation this could have been avoided.’
