The location of Adam Handling's new flagship restaurant and bar has been unveiled as 35 Southampton Street in London's Covent Garden.
The site is set to open in August and will be the former Masterchef: The Professionals finalist's second The Frog restaurant after the first opened in Shoreditch last summer.
The 90-cover restaurant will feature a sizeable open-plan kitchen, a large private dining room in the basement complete with its own kitchen, and a basement cocktail bar. It will serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner all year round, with a team of 47.
The Frog Group announced that any subsequent restaurants launched will, like The Frog E1, be named after the postcode in which they are situated.
Handling said: "I'm hugely excited about opening the new restaurant this year. The Frog E1 has been so well-received and set the standard for The Frog as a group, and the new restaurant will be rooted in those foundations but also have its own, distinct and more formal style with its own dishes and weekly-changing menu. The new site will draw a different clientele to the first restaurant in Shoreditch, and I want it to be unlike anything else currently available in Covent Garden."
Restaurant Property, London restaurant and leisure agency, was behind the deal for the 2,929 sq ft unit, previously home to Thai restaurant Manorom Too.
Matthew Englender, head of sales at Restaurant Property, said: "We have been working closely with Adam Handling since he worked at the St Ermin's hotel, in order to help him secure a flagship restaurant for his "The Frog" brand. I am delighted to announce that we have now exchanged on a restaurant space within a prime pitch of Covent Garden."
Restaurant Property has been retained by Handling to search for further sites for The Frog.
Adam Handling to open flagship The Frog restaurant in Covent Garden >>
Chef profile: Adam Handling, the Frog, London >>
Adam Handling to become chef patron of ACE >>
Videos from The Caterer archives