Handling was a finalist on Masterchef: The Professionals, and has won young chefs awards in his native Scotland, and in London. His distinct style reconciles fine dining with an urban, street-style aesthetic. There's a giant frog spray-painted on to the Spitalfields restaurant, for instance, which is now seen as its logo.
Handling has said that the fine dining style popular in Spitalfields will be re-imagined for Covent Garden, and taken even further, to suit the location. Although there are no details released about the dishes yet, we'd expect to see even more precise and highly-engineered food in Covent Garden which makes use of rare and impressive ingredients.
Alongside the ground-floor restaurant which will serve 90 covers, there's a basement bar to help guests kick back later into the night. There will also be an entirely separate kitchen downstairs to cater for groups that are dining privately.
Now that The Frog is expanding, Handling will differentiate each and every restaurant by its postcode, so the Spitalfields outpost is now The Frog E1. Going by Handling's logic, this will be The Frog WC2.
We're intrigued by what Handling can do to break away from The Frog E1, and fulfil his promise to make this 'unlike anything else currently in Covent Garden'.
What | The Frog, Covent Garden |
Where | 35 Southampton Street, WC2E 7HG | MAP |
Nearest tube | Covent Garden (underground) |
When |
27 Aug 17 – 27 Dec 18, 8am - midnight, Daily |
Price | £Moderate |
Website | Book a table online right now |