The chef and restaurateur behind The Frog brand is about to close the first location of the zero-waste cafe concept, which opened in June last year and which uses offcuts and by-products not used in his main restaurants.
The move comes as Handling’s latest project, The Frog Hoxton, is about to open its doors. As well as housing a ground floor restaurant, the site is also home to a downstairs bar, called Iron Stag, and a Bean & Wheat, which is accessed from a separate entrance.
With the Hoxton Bean & Wheat being so close to The Frog restaurant, having the Liverpool Street cafe no longer fitted with the company’s sustainable model, says Handling.
“There’s no point having a zero waste cafe that uses leftover ingredients and then having to drive them over there when we can do it at Hoxton,” he says. “If you’re going to take a sustainable approach, you’ve got to follow it through.”
The Hoxton Bean & Wheat will follow the Liverpool Street original with menu items including sandwiches, salads, parfaits and preserves as well as coffee and cakes.
It will open all day and in the evening, and includes an extensive craft beer offering with a licenced bottle shop, with customers encouraged to bring their empty beer bottles back in exchange for free coffees.
Pick up the August issue of Restaurant magazine for an in-depth interview with Adam Handling.