Chef Adam Handling MBE started out at Gleneagles 16 years ago, where he was the first ever apprentice chef.

Adam has received some incredible awards including Restaurateur of the Year in the British GQ Food and Drink Awards and Restaurateur of the Year – Independent at the Cateys. In 2022, he was appointed Ambassador to the UK Government’s GREAT campaign, promoting Britain’s hospitality talents on an international scale. Adam was also crowned BBC TV’s Great British Menu ‘Champion of Champions’.

Born in Dundee, Scotland, in 1988, Adam’s love was never food. It was being outside and causing mischief… like any young boy.

He lived in Germany for 5 years, before coming back to Scotland to start his first role in the kitchen – an apprenticeship at the prestigious Gleneagles Hotel, in Scotland. Adam still says to this day that, because of the rigorous training he had there, it was the best place he ever worked and the reason for him being the way he is as a chef now.

After years at Gleneagles, he ventured to London as any starry-eyed professional does. This was when his love for The Big Smoke arrived… the opportunity, the fun, all the amazing restaurants.

He then needed a little break and got his backpack on and spent a year learning, in all corners of the world. It was the eye-opening teaching from Japan, where his passion for zero-waste really came into play. The sheer passion from across the world genuinely inspired Adam.

When he came back to London, he brought this zero-waste ethos back with him and he started to create The Frog restaurant. This is pretty much the history of his career (minus a few boring details) but the exciting times really started in June 2016, when the Adam Handling Collection first started.

The Frog, Covent Garden is Adam’s flagship Michelin-starred restaurant, nestled in the heart of TheatreLand, opposite The Savoy hotel. His flagship cocktail bar, Eve bar, is situated just beneath The Frog.

The Loch & the Tyne – L&T for short – is the Collection’s stunning restaurant and pub, in the countryside of Old Windsor.

Michelin-starred Ugly Butterfly has to be the Collection’s most beautiful restaurant, purely because of the stunning view of the Cornish coast. It is situated on renowned Fistral Beach in Newquay.

The Adam Handling Chocolate Shop, just round the corner from The Frog restaurant and Eve bar, is Adam’s first step into the world of chocolate. Adam has always been a huge chocolate lover and the Covent Garden boutique offers chocolates that really showcase the purity of the cacao fruit.

The Tartan Fox is the Collection’s second pub – a beautiful restaurant and pub with guest bedrooms in the Cornish countryside, near Newquay and just 15 minutes away from Ugly Butterfly.

The Frog – this being Adam’s first restaurant, it was a big step to take but he had the determination and passion to create something fun. At the time, he said, ‘frogs live in water, so they are either going to sink or swim. Frog is what I will call my restaurant, as this is my test.’ He believes that if you adapt when you need to, you will never fail and so, luckily for all of us, he definitely swam. The restaurant was awarded a Michelin star in the 2022 Michelin guide.

L&T – as a Group, we have always wanted a restaurant and pub in our Collection. After having worked so hard for Adam for so many years (first working with him in Newcastle in 2008), Adam gave Steven (our Geordie) the position of Chef Proprietor of the place. So, he put Loch (a Scottish lake) and Tyne (the river going through Newcastle) together and made them cross each other’s paths. The restaurant was awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2024.

Ugly Butterfly – people often ask about this one, wondering why Adam would call such a beautiful restaurant something that includes such a negative word… ‘ugly’.

There is no such thing as an Ugly Butterfly, in the same way that – with skilled people – there is no such thing as waste!

The restaurant was awarded a Michelin star in the 2026 Michelin guide.

The Tartan Fox – this one was inspired by Adam’s Scottish roots as well as the location of the pub, which is nestled in the middle of a Cornish forest and, much like a fox’s home, is a den to escape in the countryside. A group of foxes is called an earth, which perfectly ties into the Collection’s commitment to sustainability.