Chef Adam Handling MBE started out at Gleneagles 16 years ago, where he was the first ever apprentice chef.

Adam has received some incredible awards including Restaurateur of the Year in the British GQ Food and Drink Awards and Restaurateur of the Year – Independent at the Cateys. In 2022, he was appointed Ambassador to the UK Government’s GREAT campaign, promoting Britain’s hospitality talents on an international scale. Adam was also crowned BBC TV’s Great British Menu ‘Champion of Champions’.

Born in Dundee, Scotland, in 1988, Adam’s love was never food. It was being outside and causing mischief… like any young boy.

He lived in Germany for 5 years, before coming back to Scotland to start his first role in the kitchen – an apprenticeship at the prestigious Gleneagles Hotel, in Scotland. Adam still says to this day that, because of the rigorous training he had there, it was the best place he ever worked and the reason for him being the way he is as a chef now.

After years at Gleneagles, he ventured to London as any starry-eyed professional does. This was when his love for The Big Smoke arrived… the opportunity, the fun, all the amazing restaurants.

He then needed a little break and got his backpack on and spent a year learning, in all corners of the world. It was the eye-opening teaching from Japan, where his passion for zero-waste really came into play. The sheer passion from across the world genuinely inspired Adam.

When he came back to London, he brought this zero-waste ethos back with him and he started to create The Frog restaurant. This is pretty much the history of his career (minus a few boring details) but the exciting times really started in June 2016, when the Adam Handling Collection first started.

My Ugly Butterfly restaurant explores the best of South-West’s larder, with surreal coastal surroundings and panoramic sunsets.

We are so lucky to have one of the most beautiful views of Fistral Beach, nestled inside the historic hotel, The Headland.

You are overlooking the clifftops over the ocean, watching the world pass you by.

It’s truly a place where all of your problems disappear.

People often ask about this one, wondering why I would call such a beautiful restaurant something that includes such a negative word… ‘ugly’.

The reason is there is no such thing as an Ugly Butterfly, in the same way that – with skilled people – there is no such thing as waste.