Adam Handling to move Frog E1 east to Hoxton in 'biggest venture yet'

“Biggest venture yet”: Adam Handling
Tim Green

Award-winning chef Adam Handling is set to open his largest project next month as he moves his first solo restaurant, Frog E1, further east.

Handling, a former Masterchef: The Professionals finalist, is shifting the Shoreditch site to the corner of Hoxton Square at the end of July. The revamped restaurant will sit alongside the second of the chef’s zero-waste coffee shops, Bean & Wheat, as well as a new bar, Iron Stag. The three venues will be housed within the same building but will have their own entrances.

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,” Handling said.

“When we first opened the site, it was just me and a couple of my chefs painting the walls ourselves and putting on the doorknobs — backwards. We were so proud of it when we finished. The new one in Hoxton is my biggest venture yet and it’s a very personal project for me.”

The new 60-cover site will keep E1’s present team including head chef Jamie Park, who helped the original win its Bib Gourmand from Michelin.

Daniel Watkins will join the site as executive chef, responsible for the food at all three venues.

The pair are promising more of the modern British “casual fine-dining” that made the restaurant’s name, while Handling is getting back to his Scottish roots with the bar serving a range of single malt whisky, including some 40-year-old bottlings. Cocktail maestros Rich Woods, from Duck and Waffle, and Matt Whiley — sometimes known as the Talented Mr Fox — are helping Handling with the drinks list. There are also plans for regular live music.

Unlike previous projects where Handling has relinquished some personal control — which he admitted frustrated him in an interview with the Standard earlier this year — this time he says he has been involved in every aspect of the project, including design.

He has chosen a range of artists to help him decorate, including street artist Mr Cenz and Monica Vincent.

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