HERITAGE - Key Persons
Alberto, or Berti, as he is known by the team has taken Heritage by storm since beginning with us earlier this year. He swiftly showcased his skill in providing the highest standard of service with a cheeky smile, so it was a no brainer to promote him to restaurant manager in September. Bertie has many years of experience under his belt, having run his own restaurant after training at a 2 Michelin starred restaurant in Madrid.
Since joining the team, Berti has taken all of our "little ones" under his wing, training them to his very high standards but he's also our honorary Spanish teacher. You can see more of Berti looking extra suave over on the Heritage social media pages - he loves a flamboyant cocktail making video.
Alex also joined team Heritage in August 2021 having worked at Alexander House hotel for the last few years, where he trained in the hotel's busy restaurant. He is currently looking after the pastry section in our kitchen, so he's now responsible for those delicious array of puddings to finish of your meal.
He wears arguably the best shoes in the building - his crocs have doughnuts on, so keep an eye out for those. His favourite past time appears to be deep frying any left-overs for staff snacks. It's amazing what you can create with a little bit of batter a banana parfait.
Asha joined the team this summer after working at some of Sussex's best restaurants, such as the Little Fish Market and Flint House. She has also worked at Ridgeview winery, so she really knows her stuff when it comes to English Sparkling wine.
Asha is one of the warmest, friendliest people you'll ever meet. You can often find her looking after all the wine flights in the restaurant and we love the passionate, yet relaxed way she talks about each bottle, making the experience a joy for our guests.
Bobby was meant to join us in 2020 for a work experience placement as part of his final year at school, a plan that was unfortunately thwarted by the pandemic. Instead he joined us as our apprentice before heading off to culinary college in September 2021. He's learnt a lot since starting and is now our Commis Chef, working at the weekends whilst he undertakes his second year of college. During service Bobby, prepares all the snacks for the first course on our menus and its been amazing to watch how quickly he has improved over the last year. His least favourite job is peeling tomatoes, but other than that he is enjoying his time in the kitchen!
Georgie joined team Heritage in December 2019 after returning from travelling in Australia. Whilst abroad, she honed her skills working at a number of highly rated restaurants. Georgie is passionate, enthusiastic and incredibly driven and has already proven to be a Front of House superstar. Georgie has been part of our team for three years now, rising through the ranks to Deputy Manager, she's recently decided to take a leave of absence to travel the world so is working with us part-time whilst she finalises her plans.
Always with a smile on her face and with a love of red wine that may even rival Hannah's, Georgie has recently started her formal wine training passing her WSET Level 2 with Merit. Not that you'd notice, but she is actually known for being the most clumsy member of staff - regularly falling over her own feet and sometimes even taking our coffee grinder down with her.
Hannah has been working in restaurants for over twelve years and has worked with Matt for the last five, looking after his front of house operations. She spent her formative years training at boutique restaurants and hotels in rural Berkshire before moving to Sussex in 2016. She takes incredible pride in her restaurant and, working alongside her talented front of house team, she is determined to deliver a fantastic experience to each and every guest.
Hannah's greatest love is wine (and that does include her new husband, who you can read about below) and she has taken great care in curating a unique and interesting wine list to pair perfectly with your meal. She is passionate about training and developing young professionals in the industry and showcasing how rewarding a career in hospitality can be for the younger generation.
Jackson started training as a chef seven years ago, working in busy restaurants in central London. On his days off, he worked at The Typing Room where he developed a love for fine cuisine, quality ingredients and excellent hospitality. He moved to the South East in 2016 and began working at 64 Degrees as Chef de Partie. During his time there, he worked hard and successfully progressed to Sous Chef, enjoying the creativity of their ever-changing menu.
Jackson has been part of team Heritage since day one and helps Matt with the day-to-day running of the kitchen. He initially joined the team as Junior Sous Chef but was promoted to Sous Chef in summer 2021 after proving himself as an effective leader and an asset to Matt's team.
Kit joined the Heritage team in August 2021 and quickly proved herself to be an exceptional bartender, passionate about creating drinks and providing excellent service. She has recently started training in wine, alongside Hannah and Georgie and can regularly be found showcasing some of our favourite bottles on our wine flights. In February 2022, Kit was promoted to Assistant Manager after proving herself as a key member of the Heritage team and she has recently taken the reins as Deputy General Manager.
Kit is a bit of an old soul - we often find her napping on the sofa on her break and is fondly referred to as Margaret by the team. She is wonderfully friendly and always up for a chat - so say hello on your next visit!
Matt has lived and worked in rural Sussex for the last 10 years and he has previously opened two restaurants in the local area. He has held a Michelin star and four AA rosettes. He has appeared on Saturday Kitchen, Yes Chef and the Great British Menu, where he successfully managed to get his main course dish to the banquet.
He founded Random Precision Restaurants to create dining experiences that are conceived outside of the box, with creativity and ingenuity but delivered precisely and professionally. Under this umbrella, he operates a casual dining brand ‘Electro Pirate' as well as ‘Parlour' which offers finish at home caddies and private events. Heritage is the culmination of Matt's many years of hard work and dedication towards perfecting his craft.
Miles joined team Heritage at the beginning of 2023 and has already proved himself to be a valuable member of our kitchen team. He brings with him a wealth of experience from lots of Sussex restaurants and is currently looking after Heritage's garnish section, working alongside Matt and Jackson to ensure all our dishes are perfect.
In his spare time, Miles loves fishing and has already placed himself on the waiting list for Slaugham lake just down the road.
Niamh joined team Heritage back in 2022 and has gone from strength to strength ever since. Her older sister actually worked with us back when Heritage first opened, so it's great to have the next generation of Spilling sisters! Niamh is positive, polite and always smiling with a love of fancy nail art to rival the rest of the girls.
She also has the inside scoop on all things Slaugham, as she lives just down the road.
Shauna has been part of team Heritage since the opening in August 2019, after impressing Hannah & Matt with the incredible amount of homework she'd done to prepare for her interview. Since then she has gone from strength to strength and having been promoted to head waitress, to reservations manager and now to Front of House Manager. She is responsible for managing reservations, group bookings and helps to look after and train our junior team members, to ensure everyone is working to her very high standards.
Shauna is currently on Maternity Leave, and we welcomed her little girl Elvenaray last October.