Great British Menu 2023 chefs: Adam Handling, Scotland Heat

Adam Handling, Chef Owner of Adam Handling restaurant group, is one of four chefs competing for the Scotland region on Great British Menu 2023.

Series 18 of the competition starts on January 31 2023 on BBC Two at 8pm and will air for eight weeks.

Adam is going head to head with chefs Tunde ‘Abi’ Abifarin, Kevin Dalgleish, Mark McCabe in a bid to represent the North West in the regional finals, and ultimately cook a dish at the final banquet.

This is Adam's third time competing in Great British Menu, after he took part in the competition in 2022 and 2016.

Biography

Adam Handling started his career in hospitality after he successfully applied for an apprenticeship at Gleneagles, becoming the hotel's very first apprentice.

He remained there for almost three years before leaving to spend time in London, then at Newcastle's Malmaison as a sous-chef for two and a half years.

The chef returned to Scotland to take on his first head chef position at the Fairmont St Andrews Hotel, where he worked for just over two years, earning 2 AA Rosettes for the restaurant. 

After a six-month tour of duty on the six-star liner, Crystal Serenity, the chef moved down to London to work at the newly-refurbished St. Ermin's Hotel in St James' Park.

It was then that the chef appeared on MasterChef: The Professionals 2013, reaching the finals, which led to the opportunity to get his name above the door at the St Ermin's restaurant, renamed Restaurant Adam Handling at Caxton. 

Since then, he has opened a string of restaurants under the Adam Handling Restaurant Group, starting with The Frog E1 (consecutively moved to Hoxton, before closing in 2020) followed by Frog by Adam Handling and Eve Bar in Covent Garden, alongside the now closed Adam Handling Chelsea at Belmond Cadogan.

He then opened the The Loch & the Tyne Old Windsor and Ugly Butterfly (first at King’s Road in Chelsea, since relocated to St. Ives, Cornwall). 

The chef recently won a Michelin star for his Covent Garden restaurant in the Michelin Guide for Great Britain and Ireland 2022.

Full name

Adam Handling

Nickname

None.

Age/DOB

17 September 1988 (34 years old)

Place of birth / residence

Born in Dundee, lives in London.

Relationship status / children

Single. Adam has a four-year-old son, Oliver.

Height

6"4

Type of chef (restaurant, hotel, development chef, etc.)

Chef Owner of the Adam Handling Restaurant Group (Frog by Adam Handling, London; The Loch & The Tyne, Old Windsor; Ugly Butterfly, St. Ives; Eve Bar, London)

Favourite type of cuisine

British

Personal and professional mentors / role models 

I always get asked this question and always say the same thing - it's my team who work so hard every day and give me the drive to push harder.

Guilty pleasure dish

KFC with English caviar and Krug Champagne

Best / worst thing about being a chef

Best thing is that you can eat as much as you want. Worst thing is if you don't work out, you get fat!

Feelings stepping onto the GBM set

I thought I was going to throw up and shit myself at the same time, I was that nervous. Regardless of how many times you do these sort of things, the first day is always the hardest.

Plans for the future

Adam would love to take his group international – watch this space!