Adam Handling is a British chef and restaurateur. He is the owner of the Adam Handling Restaurant Group which encompasses five food and drink venues across London.
Career
Handling started his culinary training aged 16 as the first apprentice chef at Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland. He went on to work in London before becoming sous chef at the Malmaison hotel in Newcastle. He then moved back to Scotland to become the Fairmont Group's youngest ever head chef at the Fairmont St Andrews. Handling took on the role of head chef at St. Ermin's Hotel in St James's Park, London. From there, he entered and became a finalist in series 6 of in 2013. Handling officially opened Restaurant Adam Handling at Caxton in 2014, which won a three rosettes award from the AA. The next year, it was named Best Newcomer UK Restaurant by Food and Travel Magazine. Handling published his first cookbook in October 2014, entitled Smile or Get Out of the Kitchen, with a foreword by Masterchef judge Monica Galetti. In June 2016, Handling opened his first independent restaurant, The Frog, in Spitalfields, London, and appeared in series 11 of Great British Menu.
Restaurants
Adam Handling Restaurant Group encompasses five food and drink venues across London. Frog by Adam Handling opened in September 2017, followed by bar venue Eve Bar later that year. Handling opened a second restaurant, The Frog Hoxton, the following year. In February 2019, Adam Handling Chelsea opened at the Belmond Cadogan Hotel; Handling now also serves as the hotel's chef patron. In November 2019, Handling opened a fifth London venue, Ugly Butterfly.
Awards and honours
Handling won an Acorn Award in 2013 and was the youngest person to be listed by magazine The Caterer as one of the "30 under 30 to watch". He has since been crowned the British Culinary Federation's "Chef of the Year 2014". Handling won the overall title at the Scottish Chef of the Year Awards in 2015. Handling's restaurants have won several awards from the Food and Travel Magazine Awards, including "London Restaurant of The Year" and "UK Best Restaurant of the Year" in 2017, and "Best Newcomer Restaurant" in 2018. Handling was named Chef of the Year by the magazine in 2019. His venues won "Wine List of the Year" at the 2019 Wine List Confidential Awards and "Cocktail List of the Year" at the 2019 National Restaurant Awards.
