Culture Food & Travel News & features

Adam Handling launches Friends of Frog dinner series with chefs from two-Michelin-star restaurants

Adam Handling launches Friends of Frog dinner series with chefs from two-Michelin-star restaurants

Chef Adam Handling will launch a new collaborative dinner series at his Michelin-starred restaurant Frog by Adam Handling in Covent Garden. The Friends of Frog four-hands dinner series will run from May to July 2025, bringing together Handling and four leading chefs from the UK and Ireland, each of whom currently holds two Michelin stars. The initiative aims to highlight the chefs’ diverse culinary styles and shared commitment to innovation and sustainability within the British fine-dining scene.

The series begins on Monday 26th May 2025, with Angelo Sato of Humble Chicken, Soho, recently awarded a second star by the red guide. Subsequent events will feature:

Mickael Viljanen of Chapter One in Dublin – Sunday 8th June

Aktar Islam of Opheem in Birmingham – Monday 14th July

Stephen McLaughlin of Restaurant Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles – Monday 21st July

Each chef will join Handling for a one-night-only collaboration, preparing exclusive tasting menus in Frog’s open kitchen.

According to Handling, the series is a personal and professional milestone: “I’m collaborating with my friends – the chefs who have influenced my career. There’s a saying I really believe in: ‘Surround yourself with great people and you’ll become great.’ That’s exactly what this series is about. Gleneagles is where my career began. One of the best meals I’ve ever had was at Chapter One. I love Aktar’s modern take on Indian food – his flavours will blow your mind. And I really admire Angelo’s drive, ambition, and hunger.”

Handling also expressed the significance of hosting these chefs at Frog: “It’s an absolute privilege, there’s no shadow of a doubt that Frog wants to become two stars one day and bringing these incredible talents together under one roof is an important step towards that. I can’t wait to bring our ethos of sustainable, British luxury together with each of their own approaches, and to welcome restaurants from across the UK and Ireland to London for this collaboration series.”

The inaugural event with Angelo Sato will feature a tasting menu blending Handling’s British-focused cuisine with Sato’s contemporary Japanese influences. Sato’s background includes training at renowned establishments such as RyuGin in Tokyo and Eleven Madison Park in New York, and his omakase-style menus are known for merging traditional kaiseki with global techniques.

Tickets for the first event, priced at £350 per person (excluding beverages and service charge), are available for booking from 5.30pm onwards. Further details on subsequent collaborations will be announced in due course. 

Food Desk

Frog by Adam Handling is located at 34-35 Southampton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7HF. For further information and to book visit the restaurant’s website here.

More in Food & Drinks

London bars unveil creative menus for the return of Negroni Week

Food & Travel Desk

Aki London to open in historic Cavendish Square

Food & Travel Desk

Secret Negroni Bar to open beneath Chinatown’s Noodle & Beer for September

Food & Travel Desk

Jordan Bailey to open second Heard burger restaurant in Soho

Food & Travel Desk

Japanese restaurant Taro to open Brighton branch this September

Food & Travel Desk

The Kensington Hotel launches Marie Antoinette-inspired afternoon tea to celebrate V&A exhibition

Food & Travel Desk

Spitalfields Market celebrating 20 years since regeneration with anniversary event

Food & Travel Desk

Chuck’s brings minimalist smashburgers to permanent home at No. 23 in Fitzrovia

Food & Travel Desk

The Abingdon launches Seafood Saturday Brunch

Food & Travel Desk