A GREAT British Menu finalist is eyeing a new venture in Knutsford.

Aiden Byrne, one of the nation’s top chefs, has announced plans to open a restaurant on King Street.

He intends to run the 35-cover venue with his wife Sarah at the site formerly home to Kampai Sushi Bar and Grill and more recently, Mamma Mia.

Byrne is now launching a crowdfunding campaign to overhaul the Grade II-listed 300-year-old building.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, he said: “It’s a beautiful little 35-cover restaurant in the gorgeous market town of Knutsford, renowned for its history in food.

“The streets of Knutsford are full of independents and we are dead excited about being an independent that is literally an independent. It’s myself and my wife Sarah running the business.”

Aiden Byrne will run the restaurant with his wife SarahAiden Byrne will run the restaurant with his wife Sarah (Image: Aiden Byrne)

The crowdfunding campaign officially gets underway later today (August 31) with a launch dinner at Field 28 in Daresbury.

The restaurant will be named Li-Ly after the stream which runs through Knutsford and the Danish word for small.

Byrne is hoping it will be ready to open by the end of October.

He added: “We are so excited just to get stuck into something quite new, something exciting for us.

“We’ve got a hell of a lot of work to do in a very short space of time.

“We’ve got a pot of money but upon closer inspection we’ve now realised that there’s a lot more work to be done than we initially anticipated.

“We’d really appreciate if you could get involved in the journey.”

In May, Byrne left The Church Green gastropub in Lymm following a 16-year stint in charge.

Li-Ly will serve two ‘seasonal and regional’ tasting menus – a six course lunch menu and a nine course menu in the evenings.

Byrne has promised to local suppliers and producers and says the restaurant will only open four days a week to help with staff retention.

“Our ambition is to give our staff a real work-life balance,” he said.

“It’s tough in our industry and we want to give something back to our staff, who will hopefully help us turn this business into a success.”