Chef Adam Handling to reopen Ugly Butterfly at The Headland Hotel in Cornwall

18^th June 2025

Food & Travel Desk

Food & Travel Desk

18 June 2025

Award-winning chef Adam Handling MBE will reopen his Cornish restaurant, Ugly Butterfly, at The Headland Hotel in Newquay on the 9^th July 2025. The move marks a new partnership between Handling and the family-owned, five-star hotel, and is seen as a significant development in Cornwall’s culinary scene. The restaurant, previously located in St Ives, will now operate from the clifftop property overlooking Fistral Beach.

Ugly Butterfly 2.0 will offer a flexible 4×4 menu, allowing diners to select from four dishes in each section, with options such as Cornish Tuna with Preserved Truffles and Elderflower, a variation on Handling’s signature lobster and wagyu dish using local St Ives lobster, and Lamb with Tandoori Cauliflower and Wasabi Leaf. The menu also includes Cornish Apple Tarts served tableside, and chocolates from the Adam Handling chocolate shop in London.

The restaurant’s terrace menu will feature a more relaxed selection, focusing on Cornish seafood dishes such as Lobster Rolls and Crab Sandwiches, alongside a Fish and Chips set menu paired with Champagne. Desserts will incorporate produce from local suppliers like Mitchell Fruit Garden.

Afternoon tea at Ugly Butterfly will be served in four courses, highlighting Cornish ingredients and including items such as Pea Tart with Potato and Caviar, Hog’s Pudding Sausage Roll, Battenberg Cake, and traditional Cornish scones with Rodda’s clotted cream. Guests may choose to accompany their tea with local sparkling wine or Champagne.

Handling commented on the move, stating: “As one door closes, another one opens – and this Ugly Butterfly 2.0 is a more fitting home for our most sustainable brand. We are taking this situation in an extremely positive light, building on what Ugly Butterfly has achieved and focusing on what we need to do to be even better. There is no doubt that we will be gunning for a Michelin star in this restaurant. And what a place to do it – the iconic Cornish hotel, The Headland. They are a force to be reckoned with, and their sustainable values and credentials are a true credit to them.”

The new restaurant will seat 50 diners indoors, with additional capacity for 20 on the terrace and 30 in the bar. The design aims to create a relaxed but theatrical dining experience, including food stations where guests can observe dishes being prepared. The wine list will feature over 500 selections, making it one of the largest in Cornwall.

Veryan Palmer, Executive Director at The Headland, said: “We are excited to be welcoming Ugly Butterfly by Adam Handling to The Headland to offer our guests a new dining experience in our iconic hotel. The shared values of sustainability and community resonate between our operations, and we look forward to seeing the partnership develop.”

Food Desk

Ugly Butterfly 2.0 will open seven days a week during the summer. Further details on the menu and team are expected to be announced in the coming weeks. In the meantime, visit the restaurant’s website here.