a video Gary posted on Twitter at the end of February, he said: “We underestimated it completely."
“There are certain people asking me how I fucked up so bad and it’s quite a simple answer really - restaurants don’t make a lot of money, they make enough to stay afloat. We’re not backed by a VC down in London that will throw money at us without regard for return in any kind of quality.”
“We’re not Pizza express, we’re not Bella Italia, we don’t have the working capital to put in so we’ve got stuck because we open restaurants on a fucking budget.”
An outpouring of support from fellow chefs and customers ensued - offering their services for the crowdfunding prizes - like Dining Room chef Si Toft - for whom Gary backed a crowdfunding page when the Abersoch chef was hospitalised and had to close his restaurant in 2016.
I’m prepared to transfer the potwashing masterclass that @liambarriebros was too cool to use for theirs. Will include signed marigolds and a tabard.
— The Dining Room (@eldiningroomi) 27 February 2019
Gary said the whole project, combining the crowdsourced money, a bank loan and private funding will cost £300,000 “or less.”
After that, he said, “if we do get stuck, there isn’t anymore money.”
“We love what we do and I love the restaurants and I love all the people in the restaurants, I love the guests that come to the restaurant – most of them - and I don’t see a problem in it I still want to expand, even though there isn’t money to expand we’re just trying the best way that we can and with you guys with help in crowdfunding and just working out any little ways that we can open restaurants on these budgets.”
Kala will be restaurateur Gary’s sixth, joining Hispi, Sticky Walnut, Burnt Truffle, Wreckfish and Pinion in the Elite Bistro Group. Originally the launch date was set for September last year, then pushed back to February. It is now hoped to open in May.
