Restaurateur of the Year - Independent Sponsored by Matthew Clark THE SHORTLIST
Tommy, James, Tom and Anne Banks and Matt Lockwood, the Tommy Banks Group
Natalie Demetriou, Lost in the Lanes Brighton
Adam Handling, Adam Handling Restaurant Group
David Moore, Pied à Terre London
James Sommerin, Home
Penarth THE JUDGES
Andreas Antona Antona Restaurants
Will Beckett Hawksmoor
Peter Harden Harden’s Limited
Bill Toner CH&Co
WINNER 2024 Adam Handling, Adam Handling Restaurant Group
Drive and determination are two of the main qualities needed to thrive as an independent restaurateur, and Adam Handling has no shortage of either. The Dundee-born chef has a growing list of awards and an expanding res- taurant empire to his name, all by the age of 35. Handling’s culinary career started when
he was 16, when he joined Gleneagles in Auchterarder as an apprentice chef. After work- ing as head chef at Fairmont St Andrews, he took on the same role at St Ermin’s hotel in Lon- don’s St James’s Park in 2012. The following year, he became the youngest ever recipient of The Caterer’s Acorn Award and was a finalist on the sixth series of MasterChef: The Professionals. Handling struck out on his own to start
the Adam Handling Restaurant Group in 2016 with the launch of the first Frog res- taurant in London’s Spitalfields. Despite a rocky few years for the hospitality industry, the chef’s business has continued to grow and now includes the Michelin-starred Frog by Adam Handling in Covent Garden in London, Eve Bar in Covent Garden, the Loch & the Tyne gastro- pub in Windsor (which holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand), Ugly Butterfly in St Ives in Corn- wall (recommended in the Michelin Guide Great Britain & Ireland), and the newly-launched Tar- tan Fox gastropub in Newquay, also in Cornwall. The strength of the business has been dem- onstrated by an impressive rise in revenue over the past year, despite 2023 trading being hampered by rising prices, train strikes and the cost of living crisis. Handling has driven a strong focus on sus- tainability across his restaurants. The kitchen and bar teams work in synergy, where the stems and tops of fruit and vegetables form a basis for cocktails, and off-cuts of meats are made into bar snacks or distilled into alcohol. Winning a Catey tops off a bumper year for Handling, who was named the Great British
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“He has achieved a standard of cuisine that puts him in
the culinary first rank” Peter Harden
Menu Champion of Champions in 2023 as well as being made an MBE for services to hospi- tality and international trade in the New Year Honours List 2024. His work around sustain- ability and promoting British food has seen him become an ambassador for the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland tourist campaign, which the chef described as a “pinch me” moment. Handling has also used his experience to
give back to the industry. He has been head judge for the chef portion of the World Young Chef Young Waiter competition for sev- eral years and recently collaborated with the mymuybueno Academy of Culinary Arts in London. He is also an ambassador for food waste charity the Felix Project and African Revival, a UK charity that focuses on improv- ing access to education in sub-Saharan Africa. It’s no surprise our judging panel described
Handling as a worthy winner of this award and someone who was fast becoming known as a strong ambassador for the hospitality industry.
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID “Adam met the criteria for the award in all respects. He has shown superb flair and innovation in his approach and has achieved a standard of cuisine that puts him in the culinary first rank as well as the sustainable one.” Peter Harden
“Adam has shown outstanding business skills and is fast becoming an industry ambassador. This accolade is testament to his success.” Bill Toner
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