Chef and restauranteur, Gary Usher, has launched a £200k crowdfunding campaign, in a bid to open a fourth restaurant, Wreckfish.
If successful, this will be the largest ever amount raised in the UK by Kickstarter for a restaurant. A huge £25,000 was raised just two hours into the campaign, with the total now topping £135,000. Customers have been busy pledging for the likes of meal tickets for Usher’s four restaurants, branded merchandise, masterclasses and exclusive guest chef nights.
Revealed by Usher on Twitter, celebrity chef and owner of The Hand and Flowers, Tom Kerridge, will be hosting an exclusive six course menu at Wreckfish, with tickets sold via the Kickstarter campaign for £150 per head. They were available on a first come, first served basis and completely sold out within 15 minutes, with impatient Kerridge fans claiming, “it was like waiting for Glastonbury tickets!”.
Gary Usher comments: “The support we have received for Wreckfish has been incredible, not only from people who know us, but from the entire industry. I can’t believe that Michelin stared chefs are offering to cook for us just so we can make Wreckfish a reality. Tom Kerridge coming to cook in our bistro that hasn’t even opened yet is a huge thing for us and the whole region. I honestly can’t think of a better way to launch the restaurant.”
The campaign has also seen the likes of support from top chefs, such as Duck & Waffle’s, Dan Doherty, who will be hosting Wreckfish’s first ever brunch service on 5th November.
Additional support has come Sunday Brunch’s Simon Rimmer, who offered the highest bidder the chance to watch the programme being filmed. Usher auctioned this unique opportunity via Twitter, raising a massive £2,000 for the Kickstarter fund.
Additional guest chef nights are set to be revealed during the final week of the campaign.
Wreckfish is set to launch in Autumn 2017. For more information on all available pledges, visit: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1357125502/wreckfish-maybe?token=e6640acf.
For more information on Wreckfish, visit http://www.wreckfish.co.
The Wreckfish trailer by Natural Selection Design can be found here: https://vimeo.com/207647072.
