‘The most exciting venue I’ve ever done’: Chef Adam Handling hints at new project

Chef Adam Handling has unveiled plans to open “the most exciting venue [he has] ever done” in a surprise video.

The chef-owner of the Michelin-starred Frog by Adam Handling in London’s Covent Garden, who is also an Acorn Award winner, posted a short clip on Instagram with the caption: “Sweet dreams are made of this… Something special is coming your way in less than a month.”

Wearing a hard hat, the chef said: “2025 is going to be a good year for the Adam Handling Collection. I’m opening something new actually relatively soon. I’ve kept this under wraps for months, so depending on when this video goes out, it’s going to be counting down since then.

“Where’s it going to be, I’m not telling anyone, what’s it going to be, it’s the most exciting venue I’ve ever done, something I’ve wanted to do since I started this career, and I’m finally going to get to open one. Where is it, you say. Have a guess – I’m not telling you nothing.”

It comes after Handling won Restaurateur of the Year – Independent at the 2024 Cateys in recognition of his “outstanding business skills”.

Judge Bill Toner described the 35-year-old chef and entrepreneur as “an industry ambassador”.

The Dundee-born chef started his culinary career aged 16, when he joined Gleneagles in Auchterarder as an apprentice chef.

He now owns and operates the Frog by Adam Handling in Covent Garden, Eve Bar in Covent Garden, the Loch & the Tyne gastropub in Windsor (which holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand), Ugly Butterfly in St Ives in Cornwall (recommended in the Michelin Guide Great Britain & Ireland), and the Tartan Fox gastropub in Newquay, also in Cornwall, which was launched in June 2024.