Dundee-born chef Adam Handling is one of eight contestants on BB2’s Great British Menu battling it out for the honour of preparing one of four dishes on the final menu.
The Scot reigned supreme in GBM’s regional heats, knocking out compatriots Calum Montgomery, Stuart Ralston and Fraser Smith.
But the temperature in the kitchen is heating up as the competition nears its conclusion.
But just who is the person representing Scotland on one of the BBC’s most prestigious cooking shows?
We take a deep dive into Adam’s much-garlanded career to deliver 12 interesting facts on the successful chef.
1 – The high-level apprentice
Adam left school at the age of 15. Aged 16 he was working as the first apprentice chef at Perthshire’s Gleneagles hotel. But his parents were not convinced about his new career.
“[Before starting at Gleneagles] I hadn’t focused on anything much other than playing with friends,” Adam said in 2016. “[My parents] were sceptical I would succeed.”
2 – Family ties
Adam’s family still live in Tayside. His dad was in the army and his mum a cleaner.
3 – Young master
He is the youngest recipient of Scottish chef of the year, which he won in 2011. He shot to wider public fame aged just 25 when he appeared on MasterChef: The Professionals in 2013.
4 – He has built a culinary empire
Adam owns three restaurants – The Frog in Covent Garden, The Loch & The Tyne in Old Windsor and the Ugly Butterfly in Cornwall’s Carbis Bay.
Adam Handling Chelsea opened in 2019 but closed in July 2021.
5 – Leap of faith
The Frog was given its unusual name because it was Adam’s first venture into running his own restaurant.
He “jumped” from head chef at Westminster restaurant St Ermin’s to launching the Frog at its original location in London’s Spittlefield’s.
6 – He has suffered setbacks
Adam’s time at St Ermin’s did not end well, though he praises it for pushing him to open his own restaurant.
In 2019, Adam told Squaremeal: “We ended things [at St Ermin’s] on horrendous terms after they changed my contract. They broke me, but that gave me the power to open The Frog and the determination to never be treated like that by anyone again and never to treat anyone like that myself.”
7 – Grape expectations
The chef has his own alcohol brand – an English sparkling wine.
8 – He has a strong work ethic
Adam does not believe in luck. “There’s no luck about it,” he said of his success in 2016. “I worked my ass off for many years and I managed to get it. The reason I got it before you is because I won’t give up. At all.”
9 – He has clawed his way to the top
His signature dish is lobster wagyu – lobster cured in wagyu fat and cooked on a barbecue.
10 – Trimming the fat is his motto
Adam is serious about sustainability and has a zero-waste policy. In the GBM heats, he refused to add lemon juice to his dish despite criticism from one of the judges. The dish was a success without the added juice.
11 – Bucket challenge
He loves KFC. In 2019, he said he’d eat it every day if he could. With a bottle of champagne.
12 – Clear-eyed ambitions
Don’t expect the Dundonian to open a restaurant in his hometown. In 2020, he said any Scottish venture would probably be in Edinburgh.
“As much as it would be really lovely to have something in my hometown, I would need to open it where it would be the most successful,” Adam explained.
