HeirloomLA

A Powerhouse of Culinary Talent Originally from Clarkston, MI, outside Detroit, Executive Chef/Co-Owner Matt Poley began “catering” at an early age, cooking for friends and family at high school tail-gate parties before football games. In 2004, he moved to Los Angeles, where he was classically trained by Gino Angelini of Angelini Osteria and from there, sent to intern at the two-star restaurant, Vissani, near Orvieto, Italy. Centrally based on a small farm and completely self-contained, this was where Matt learned the value of personally knowing where he sources his ingredients. Matt continues this tradition at Heirloom LA, seeking out small farms and humanely raised livestock for the fresh ingredients in his dishes. Co-owner Tara Maxey, formerly Heirloom LA’s pastry chef, trained with Suzanne Griswold of Spago and Elizabeth Belkind of Cake Monkey Bakery. Although she still jumps in the kitchen, Tara now primarily runs the company’s marketing and public relations. A California native who has traveled the state observing the negative impact of industrial agriculture on the environment and the inhumanity of factory farming, Tara is passionate about the need to change our country’s food system. Recently appointed by Mayor Eric Garcetti as a Los Angeles Commissioner to the Commission of Community and Family Services, she plans to advocate for progressive food policy, along with other issues and needs facing the city’s most disadvantaged groups.