THE restaurateur behind the award-winning Sticky Walnut bistro has said that his Wirral restaurant, Burnt Truffle, may close if its fortunes do not improve.

Elite Bistros owner Gary Usher has said that "unless people start using" Burnt Truffle, he "will have to close it." The restaurant near Neston was the second in the company's portfolio and opened in 2015 following a highly successful few years in Hoole with Sticky Walnut.

Elite Bistros bought, refurbished and reopened The White Horse pub in Churton, near Chester, in March this year, and has a handful of other successful restaurants across the North West.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) he said: "We've been open in Heswall nearly 10 years. The kitchen have been awarded 2 AA Rosettes & I don't think the food has ever been so good. We also do a simple and great value menu with beef ragu rigatoni & relatable things. We've just had a full set of new furniture we still love Burnt."

"If it’s not to be it’s not to be & we will never give up but if people don’t come it obviously doesn’t work. Appreciate this looks desperate & perhaps a bit needy but we just aren’t getting enough people in to cover the costs of being open."

"If you would be upset if Burnt Truffle closed please help us spread the word we are still open & bloody good at what we do. Thank you."

He adds: "Can I also just say I realise this is **** for the team but 1) they’re not stupid & can see what’s going on 2) me NOT utilising a reasonably decent social media reach would actually be letting them down more if it could help us become busier.

"Saying nothing is worse imo."

Sticky Walnut is currently gearing up for the launch of a new breakfast menu from this weekend (Saturday, December 2) which adds to Main, Lunch, Bistro and Sunday Menu offering.