Chef Adam Handling to open his largest site yet
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| Hospitality Today | Summer 2018
Chef Adam Handling to open his largest site yet
This month ( July ), chef Adam Handling ( right ) is moving his award-winning first restaurant The Frog E1 to a new , larger site at 45-47 Hoxton Square . The building , which sits on the corner joining Hoxton Square , Rufus Street , and Old Street , will be home to the newly named The Frog Hoxton as well as a new Bean & Wheat , Adam ’ s sustainable coffee shop and deli , and a brand-new bar concept , Iron Stag .
Handling commented : “ This is my biggest venture yet and it ’ s a very personal project for me . I ’ ve learned so much from past ventures and whilst I ’ m proud of them all , I ’ ve delegated too much of the design concepts to outside companies . This time , I ’ ve taken on the design of everything myself .
“ The Frog E1 was originally supposed to be a test project on a temporary basis , but it became so successful we kept extending the lease . Now , we want to give it a permanent home to give it the revamp it needs .
“ When we first opened Frog E1 ( below ), it was just me a couple of my chefs painting the walls ourselves and putting on the doorknobs ( backwards !) – we were so proud of it when we were finished , and I want to be just as proud of this new site knowing that we ’ ve done as much as we can ourselves .
“ E1 was my first independent restaurant , and its been a great testing ground for what we do best . I want to take everything that people love about it and are familiar with , but slightly elevate the offering , and make it even better .”
Opening at the end of July , the three individual venues will have their own separate entrances on three different streets to ensure that each experience is distinct . Adam will be overseeing all operations at the site , alongside newlyappointed Executive Chef Daniel Watkins who will have responsibility for the food offering across the three venues . Working with Adam on the beverage offering for the group will be renowned bartenders Rich Woods and Matt Whiley . The Frog E1 ’ s current Head Chef Jamie Park , will maintain his role as Head Chef at The Frog Hoxton , and the rest of the restaurant team will be moving to the new site too .