Manchester restaurateur Gary Usher puts negative reviewer in their place
In a review called: "Excellent food let down by Ryanair-style management," reviewer Rob V wrote: “The good news is that the food here is very, very tasty and deserves a high rating.
It’s been a tough year or two for hospitality staff and restaurant owners across the country.
Closures and lack of foot flow rendered the restaurant industry a desolate place for many months, but with the recent re-openings and return of customers, many businesses have been able to breathe again.
However, with customers comes feedback, and regardless of how long hospitality staff have had to wait to serve their customers and provide them with a service they’ve been without for a long time, negative feedback is certainly back on the menu.
It goes without saying that pubs, clubs, bars and restaurants are stretched at the minute. Lay offs were inevitable during COVID and many of them are understaffed while simultaneously having to deal with a little ring rust after being out of the game for so long.
While we are unsure if this is the case or not at Sticky Walnut in Chester, the team at the award-winning bistro had to deal with some pretty harsh criticism last week – criticism that owner Gary Usher was not going to take on the chin without a counter punch.
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Gary Usher outside Pinion in Prescot // Image by Natural Selection Design
In a review called: “Excellent food let down by Ryanair-style management,” reviewer 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.
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“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.”
Gary, who has a solid reputation across the northwest and is the owner of five other restaurants under his Elite Bistros brand, didn’t hold back in his response.
He wrote: “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.
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“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.
“When the manager came back a final time to politely let you know we needed to clear the table for our next guests you got up out of your seat, towering over the manager, pointing in their face.
“The manager’s response was: ‘Sir, please can you stop pointing in my face?’
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Gary added: “You proceeded to tell the manager that they didn’t deserve to be a manager and weren’t qualified to be in the position.
“Your mother then joined in by adding to the vitriol being directed towards the manager.
“That’s when both you and your mother showed your true colours with the classic: ‘We’ve both worked in restaurants so we know how it works. We should be getting these drinks for free.’
“You, Rob, then threatened the manager by telling them that you would be contacting the owner because you know him, and that Gary, (me) would be appalled to know how you, ‘my friend,’ had been treated.
Kala on King Street in Manchester is part of Gary’s Elite Bistros family // Elite Bistros
“The manager politely pleaded with your whole table to just listen whilst they explained. No one did.
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“In a strange turn of events you emailed me, your ‘friend’ at Sticky Walnut’s email address. You must have lost my number Rob! Not surprisingly, to either me or the manager, you and I don’t know each other Rob.
“Every few months in a restaurant a rude guest will use the ‘I know the owner!’ line to try and intimidate team members and bully them into thinking that they will get into trouble because they didn’t look after the owner’s ‘friends’ well enough.
“I did read your email. I did ‘give a toss,’ but not about you Rob, but about the way you treated the team. So instead of replying to you, we chose to block your number, and your mum’s, and put a note on our booking system to not accept any future bookings from you.
“With regards to the manager who ‘doesn’t give a toss,’ they have managed Sticky Walnut for the last eight years.
“Coincidentally the same length of time that Sticky Walnut has achieved a top 100 position in the National Restaurant Awards in the UK. I think that makes them both extremely deserving to be the manager and absolutely qualified to hold that position.
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“Regards, Not your mate, Gary.
“Another owner you don’t actually know.”
Savage. If you’re interested in visiting any of Gary’s restaurants, check out the Elite Bistros website where you can reserve a place at all six – we highly recommend Kala in Manchester city centre.
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Fans are preparing to pay tribute to Mani from The Stone Roses ahead of his funeral service
Danny Jones
Stone Roses fans and Greater Manchester locals alike are getting ready to pay their respects to the late, great, Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield, following his tragic passing last month.
As well as details surrounding his funeral being announced earlier this week, the iconic Manc musician’s cause of death has also finally been revealed.
While Hatton’s service featured a high-profile cortège which started all the way from his hometown of Hyde, past multiple landmarks and ending at the Etihad Stadium, those local to Mani’s family home on the edge of Stockport are also being welcomed to help send him off.
It's the funeral of Mani of the Stone Roses on the 22nd. He lived locally. This poster is asking people to line the route of his funeral cortege to "show that he truly was adored". pic.twitter.com/X0DYHl10Hp
He had been struggling with emphysema for some time; he was declared dead at his home in the suburb of Heaton Moor, and is said to have died peacefully in his sleep.
As you can see from the posters put in various places around the area, residents wishing to pay their own tributes to Mani before his private funeral service at Manchester Cathedral are encouraged to line the long street leading down from St Paul’s and Heaton Moor United Church as he heads towards the city.
Departing Parsonage Road from 10am on Monday, 22 December, before turning right onto Heaton Moor Rd, then Wellington and eventually on to the Cathedral, you can expect plenty of people to show up.
One of those people will be his former bandmate and another influential guitarist, John Squire, who is one of many famous musical names to have honoured him in their own way over the last few weeks.
Other members of The Stone Roses, as well as Primal Scream (who he joined in 1996), are expected to join the close family and friends at the service itself.
Nevertheless, we have no doubt that plenty will be observing the funeral in their own way.
So, for those of you also looking to honour him, you know what to do; and to quote the poster itself, “together we can show this local legend and his family that he was truly adored.”
Plans to transform Chorlton’s old shopping centre have been green-lit
Danny Jones
Yes, after a prolonged period of uncertainty, the plans put together for redeveloping Chorlton Cross Shopping Centre are now moving forward.
Following an extensive consultation period back in 2023 and planning permission having now been approved by Manchester City Council, the transformation of the long-neglected retail complex has been green-lit, and the project will be moving forward even sooner than you think.
As confirmed earlier this week, Stretford-based construction company PJ Livesey will be working in tandem with the Greater Manchester Pension Fund to deliver the major regeneration, which will see even more living spaces and leisure facilities arrive in the already thriving suburb.
Following an official press release on Thursday, 18 December, we’ve now been given a latest glimpse at what the developers are hoping the new Chorlton Cross district will look like.
Credit: Font Communications (supplied)
Plans for the transformation of both the high street and the old Leisure Centre date back to 2023 and even further when taking into account the Council asking the public for their thoughts on what should happen with the area, but Chorlton Cross, specifically, has been the subject of debate for some time.
The bulk of units in and around the largely forgotten shopping centre are now empty, with just a few hold-outs still clinging on to their space.
Now, following extensive feedback from native Mancs and those who have flooded into the South Manchester town over the past decade, the approved plans have now been revealed.
They include:
A mix of 262 one, two and three-bed apartments, all with access to outdoor space through balconies and gardens
20% affordable homes available through a mix of tenures, with 18.5% of these being available for social rent
Around 3,500 sq metres of public open space, including a fully walkable route through Manchester Rd and outdoor seating areas to encourage people to stop and dwell
A mix of flexible retail spaces, such as a new ‘Makers Yard’ suitable for smaller, start-up businesses
Up to 60 new trees across the site with maximised retention of existing trees
Manc filmmaker, Bernard Leach – who has been making videos about the region since 2007 – shared a longer look at how the vision for this next chapter in Chorlton‘s residential and retail history is currently shaping up earlier this month.
As you can see, some sections of the old Lancashire village and ‘cum-Hardy’ parish could look rather unrecognisable sooner than you think.
Should everything go ahead as scheduled, those involved are hoping to get work underway in the New Year, with the ‘decommissioning’ of all existing buildings, including Graeme House, undergoing demolition by early 2026.
With the majority vacating their premises in recent years, it’s fair to say that it’s been vastly underutilised for far too long.
Posting on social media back in September last year, nearby resident Nigel Woodcock wrote: “Serious question, not just councillor-baiting, but can anyone explain why the retail businesses in Chorlton Precinct were booted out before any decisions were made about what’s going to happen to it?
“It makes no sense to me. No plans have even been submitted, so far as I’m aware, so why kick out those businesses and leave it derelict for so long? The land and buildings are actually owned by the combined GM Local Authorities, so one might expect a modicum of political and business nous to be applied.”
Similar to the new plans being put together for the stretch of land between Castlefield and Salford, most are just glad something is finally happening with the space.
Commenting on the plans progressing, PJ Livesey’s Managing Director, Georgina Lynch, said in an official statement: “This is a landmark moment for Chorlton, marking the transformation of the former shopping centre into a vibrant new hub for the community.
“Working closely with Manchester City Council, we’ve carefully balanced the delivery of much-needed new homes – including 20% affordable – with the creation of lively, welcoming spaces to shop, relax, and spend time.
“This site is at the heart of Chorlton, and we’re bringing it back to life, cementing the area’s reputation as a truly great place to live.”
What do you make of the Chorlton Cross Shopping Centre regeneration plans?
The Manc -
23rd August 2021 
