Renowned local chef Gary Usher has received a prestigious award for his work in the restaurant industry.
The Elite Bistros boss scooped up the Restaurateur of the Year award at The Cateys last night, known as the Oscars of the hospitality world.
Gary is behind some of the north west's best neighbourhood restaurants, including Kala in Manchester city centre and Hispi in Didsbury.
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He says that the award is a 'huge honour'.
Posting on Twitter last night, Gary wrote: "I’ve spent my adult life telling others how s*** I am.
"I’ve sat in countless meetings telling people I do nothing in the business.
"It's exhausting hating yourself so for this award I'm just going to say thank you.
"And thank you to everyone in @Elite_Bistros for making this possible.
"I'm sure you’ve all heard it before because I only have 3 stories but about 20 years ago I wrote to the Caterer @Caterertweets & asked for a job doing anything, maybe making tea in the office or something.
"I read it every week cover to cover. To win this is a huge honour for me."
The longstanding Cateys awards ceremony took place at Grosvenor House last night, celebrating the finest hospitality operators in the country.
Manchester's Hotel Brooklyn also came home with a prize, winning the Accessibility Award.
Gary is the first north west chef to win the Restaurateur of the Year award since Simon Rogan - who was at The French at the time - won it back in 2013.
Last year's winner Tom Kerridge was on the judging panel this year.
Fellow judge and hospitality consultant Peter Backman said of Gary: "In the year of the pandemic and its impact on the restaurant sector, the winner must show exceptional leadership, and Gary has done just that.
"Coupled with the standards he has set over the years, his performance over the past year makes him a worthy winner of this year's award."
Polpo founder Russell Norman added: "An eccentric, a rock'n'roll maverick, but with such a massive passion for restaurants that he has stolen our hearts, an example to us all that it's impossible to remove hospitality from your veins if you love the business, as Usher clearly does."
The chef and restaurant boss is a familiar face thanks to multiple TV appearances, including the Channel 4 documentary The Rebel Chef, which followed his crowdfunding journey to opening Pinion in Prescot.
His Elite Bistros group also include Wreckfish in Liverpool, Sticky Walnut in Cheshire, and Burnt Truffle in Heswall.
Gary and his team most recently launched the Elite Bistros Events business, which will allow it to provide catering, building on the success of their Elite Bistros at Home meal kits launched during the pandemic.
Congratulations Gary!
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