Chef Adam Handling is opening the first of a planned series of restaurants.
Handling is leaving Adam Handling at Caxton, at St Ermin’s Hotel, Westminster where he gained three AA rosettes in its first year, to open The Frog in Ely’s Yard in London’s Spitalfields, on 8 June.
The new openings – with at least three set for the next few months ‒ will also coincide with a relocation for Handling’s flagship Caxton operation.
With 60 covers, a 14-cover bar, and a 15-seat private dining room, The Frog will be overseen by head chef Steven Kerr, with many of the senior team from the Caxton.
It will seek to focus on fresh produce, technical cooking skills, and what Handling has called a “lightly theatrical touch”, with particular use of ingredients from local markets, including Spitalfields and Smithfields. The restaurant will also feature an “urban cultivator” to produce herbs for the kitchen and bar.
The menu will offer a daily-changing five-course tasting option at £40 per head, plus drinks; while small a la carte plates will cost around £10 each. Lunch and dinner will be served Tuesday to Friday, with brunch also available at the weekend.
Local distillery Portobello Gin is set to create a special The Frog gin, while brewer group Brewdog will supply beer and other drinks, including mainly New World wines. The bar will also focus on homemade Kombucha tea drinks and original cocktails.
Parent company Adam Handling Ltd will be supported by Toucan Ventures, and has appointed former investment banker Phillip Seers as non-executive director.
Handling said: “This will be the first of a number of restaurants to be opened under my new restaurant and bar brand over the next five years, with three opening over comings months including a new location for my signature Restaurant Adam Handling [at Caxton].”
“We want The Frog to become a showcase for young creatives, so we’re going to be working…to provide an ever-changing canvas for the best of their ideas and experiences.”
Rasha Khawaja, founder and chief executive of Toucan, said: “We are immensely proud of what [Handling] has managed to achieve. By launching The Frog, he has made the first leap on his entrepreneurial journey, and we are looking forward to supporting him well into the future.”
