Chestnuts (or possibly walnuts) roasting on an open fire…Merry Christmas to you. And beyond the festivities something to make you smile in January. To be fair, January can use all the help it can get.
WORDS: Jean Hill
His & Hers has followed the fortunes of Gary Usher and has become part of his fan base. It has been 10 years since chef entrepreneur Gary Usher, founded the award-winning Elite Bistros group with Hoole-based Sticky Walnut. It was the first in the now six-restaurant strong offering of fine dining. Sticky Walnut, has become a Chester, and surrounding countryside, firm favourite due to its classic menu, laid-back atmosphere and unrivalled service.
Gary Usher’s cuisine has gathered critical acclaim from national restaurant critics and he has acquired a solid, well-fed following over the years. Sticky Walnut and Elite Bistros feature in high profile restaurant guides, and Jay Rayner, famous food critic for the Observer, has travelled up north on several occasions, and written rave reviews about Elite Bistros restaurants. The 45-cover bistro is celebrating its 10th birthday with a special menu featuring some of the restaurant’s most loved dishes from the decade.
Launching on 3rd January and available for the whole month, the restaurant will be offering the menu to all guests and features such dishes as the crowd-pleasing Quail Wellington, risotto of Palourde clams, cashel blue arancini with port poached pear and pan roast Chateaubriand for two. The ‘best of’ desserts feature such temptations as dark chocolate and orange marmalade choux bun, and honeycomb ice cream with dark chocolate sauce.
Gary Usher comments: “I can’t believe we’re going into our 10th year at Sticky. So much has happened in that time, but it doesn’t feel that long ago that I got a call about a little bistro that was up for sale in Hoole. I couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve achieved but it’s really down to our amazing guests who have supported us all this time.
“We constantly get messages asking us to bring back people’s favourite dishes so we thought by creating a whole menu dedicated to them would be the perfect way to celebrate.”
It would also be fair to say that Gary Usher trains and inspires chefs who simply love what they do. He has a great team, and he appreciates their dedication and support.
The full menu is available to view online from 27th December at: https://www.stickywalnut.net
For more culinary inspiration, please pay a visit to our food & drink page.
