When Gary Usher’s new country pub The White Horse at Churton opened its booking system last Friday, fans of his Elite Bistro’s empire rushed to secure themselves a table at the soon-to-open village boozer.
It might not open its doors until 3 March but over the weekend the pub received over 500 booking requests for its first three days, showing that enthusiasm amongst fans is running high as ever.
Fully crowdfunded to the tune of £220,000 by Elite Bistro restaurant-goers in just 24 hours, it will be the eighth venture for Usher, whose group already lays claim to popular Manchester restaurants Kala and Hispi, as well as Chester’s Sticky Walnut and Wreckfish in Liverpool.
However, it’s not all been smooth sailing for the new pub so far. This weekend, Usher was forced to take to Twitter to defend his menu prices at the pub after he came under fire for listing a dry-aged burger with Comté cheese, mustard, relish and pickle with skinny fries for £19.50.
In a video posted to Twitter on Sunday, Usher said: “I wanted to address a few comments about the burger on the menu, the burger’s £19 [sic] and I just wanted to address that and explain a few bits about what we do and why we do it.
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“So I don’t even know where to start actually, well let’s start with a couple of comments…
“‘We should be comparing ourselves to the pub down the road and that’s how we should be finding out our prices?’ That’s just ridiculous,” he said.
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The newly-released menu for The White Horse at Churton pub has caused some controversy online thanks to a £19.50 burger. / image: The White Horse at Churton
image: The White Horse at Churton
“I’m not the most confident person, I’m painfully shy to be honest, but with the business I try not to be arrogant about it ever, I’m not, but we have to give ourselves a bit of credit for who we are and what we’ve achieved and how we’ve got to where we’ve got.
He continued: “This pub isn’t our first venture, this is number eight and were bl**** successful at what we do, so you have to give us some credit… give us the confidence to make the right decisions with this.
“I’ve been working my whole life in this industry. This is my sector. This is what I specialise in. I’m an expert at it, we all are in this business.
“And you know to be told things like you should be comparing it to the business down the road is just ridiculous. That’s not how you price up a menu.
“The burger is £19 [sic]. Now, we don’t look at other places to do that. Comparisons are great – be aware of what other people charge…
“You know to price up the menu, we source the ingredients, the very best ingredients. We get all our own raw ingredients, we add them up and then we take that into account and then work out the percentage that covers all of our costs. That’s how we came up with the cost of the menu item. That’s why the burger is £19 [sic].”
Homemade pork pie, picalilli and pickled chillies at The White Horse at Churton (£7.50). / Image: The White Horse at Churton
Beer-battered haddock and chips with minted pears and tartare at The White Horse at Churton (£15.50) / Image: The White Horse at Churton
Speaking to The Telegraph in an article on Sunday, Usher expressed concern about opening and confessed that he felt they were ‘really risking it’ by opening ‘in these times’.
“There was a lot of talk about pubs closing down, and I thought if I could be in a position to get hold of something it would probably be a good time to buy.”
It’s clearly a labour of love for the acclaimed chef, who has previously revealed that he is a huge fan of the area as his parents live nearby.
Located eight miles south of Chester, the historic pub has long been a local favourite. However, it was shuttered at the start of the Covid pandemic when its former licensees Dave and Jackie Biles found the business was becoming “unsustainable”.
The White Horse at Churton will also serve Sunday roasts. / Image: The White Horse at Churton
An old picture of The White Horse at Churton. / Image: The White Horse at Churton
On its newly-released menu, alongside the now-infamous £19.50 beef burger, diners will find traditional pub grub favourites like beer-battered haddock with chips (£15.50) and an 18oz dry aged sirloin of beef to share with chips and salad (£62) alongside the likes of homemade pork pie, stout rarebit, curried lamb pie and herby lamb faggots.
Met Office gives verdict on how Storm Boelo aftermath will affect Greater Manchester this week
Emily Sergeant
Storm Boelo is finally on his way out, and now the Met Office has given its verdict on what we can expect from the rest of the week.
In the aftermath of two successive storms, Storm Austen followed by Storm Boelo – the latter of which affected Greater Manchester – the UK is now able to begin recovering from the effects of the adverse weather.
But the Met Office has warned that, although there is no named storm, strong winds and heavy rain will continue to affect parts of the UK early this week, before high pressure brings calmer conditions.
Yellow national severe weather warnings are in place for parts of Scotland and western areas of the UK today (Tuesday 27 October), including areas of the North West, as gales and spells of rain bring the potential for ongoing disruption around the region, particularly on exposed coasts and higher ground.
“The continued winds could hamper recovery efforts in some places,” forecasters also unfortunately confirmed.
⚠️ Strong winds and heavy rain continue across parts of the UK early this week with a yellow weather warning in place, before high pressure brings calmer conditions for many from Wednesday ⛅
Read our news release to find out more 👇
https://t.co/EQU4vvaA3B https://t.co/hpvTd8v7EZ
As rest of the week pans out though, conditions will begin to settle down and showers are expected to become ‘less frequent’, while winds also ease for most, although gales could continue for a time in the far north.
Thursday is expected be ‘largely dry’ with lighter winds and variable cloud, with a touch of mist and fog likely across parts of England and Wales during the morning.
From Friday and into the weekend, light rain will team up to potentially affect northwestern areas of England, but for the most part, temperatures are expected to remain close to, or slightly above, average for the time of year.
“From Wednesday, high pressure will start to build which will ease the winds and bring a quieter and largely drier end to the week for many, although some rain is still possible in the North and West,” explained Met Office Deputy Chief Forecaster, Steven Keates.
“However, with wind warnings in place, those in warnings areas, particularly in northern Scotland and western high ground, continue to be exposed to strong winds and heavy rain before the more settled weather arrives.”
Featured Image – The Manc Group
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Popular pumpkin patch attraction describes ‘catastrophic’ impact of Storm Boelo
Daisy Jackson
Bates Farm, one of the most popular pumpkin patch attractions in the North West, has shared its heartbreak after Storm Boelo forced its closure on the busiest day of the season.
The Warrington-based family farm said the financial impact has been ‘honestly catastrophic’, after they had to cancel all tickets for Sunday.
Sisters Ali and Fiona Wilshaw, who run the farm, said it was simply not safe to allow members of the public onto the farm in the storm, with ‘crazy’ gusts of wind.
They later shared a video that showed their marquee was badly damaged and many footpaths turned to deep mud.
The sisters said they were ‘heartbroken’ to have to close at such a busy time, but stressed to followers that ‘your safety and our integrity will always come first’.
On Saturday, as Storm Austen and Storm Boelo chased each other across the UK, several people shared videos of themselves getting battered by the weather at Bates Farm.
And it’s pretty clear from that why Ali and Fi decided to cancel all tickets and close for the day on Sunday.
They wrote: “We have put in so much love, energy and investment putting on this event at this scale. The cost to cancel and refund everyone today on our busiest day of the season is honestly catastrophic, but business aside, your safety and our integrity will always come first.
“To think last night we were running round Tesco trying to stock up on milk and now we are in the depths of recovering the site to go again tomorrow. All emails and enquiries are being responded to as quickly as possible and we are doing our best to open up more available slots next week.
“We are being tested like never before, but pulling together in true force. Huge shout out to the whole team and Farmer Fi the absolute queen in any crisis.
“Thank you all for your patience and especially thank you to those who have sent such kind words and support, we are so grateful to have customers like you.
“We will be back tomorrow to enjoy the remaining of this tough season, we are putting in so many provisions with wood chip paths, undercover seating and an indoor barn to make your visit as enjoyable as possible. Ali & Fi.”
Anyone who had tickets to visit Bates Farm on Sunday will be refunded, and can book in for another date.
Bates Farm has safely reopened its autumnal experience and pumpkin patch today.
Georgina Pellant -
6th February 2023 
