Heron, who joins Kinsbrook from Heritage by chef Matt Gillan, takes over from Greg Round in leading the vineyard’s 50-cover Farmhouse restaurant.
His responsibilities include an overhaul of Kinsbrook's lunch menu and the introduction of a new breakfast offering.
Dishes across both menus will change regularly with the seasons, with Heron focusing on locally-sourced produce. The lunch menu will include lamb shoulder pastilla with pickled cucumber and sriracha yoghurt; wagyu Sussex beef tartare with focaccia and pickled shallots; and hispi cabbage with pickled walnut and hollandaise.
The new breakfast menu, meanwhile, will feature French toast with banana, salted caramel and walnut; and a ‘butcher’s breakfast’ with toasted sourdough, fried eggs, Kinsbrook sausage, bacon, tomato and mushroom; and granola with yoghurt, Sussex honey and blueberries.
Kinsbrook restaurant is currently only open until 5pm each day, but Restaurant understands that there are plans to also launch evening dinner service later in the year, licence pending.
Heron began his professional cooking career in 2014 at Jamie Oliver’s Diner in London, and later went on to work at Michael Bremner’s flagship Brighton restaurant 64 Degrees.
Kinsbrook Vineyard is owned by winemaking duo Joe Beckett and Rebecca Dancer. The Kinsbrook Farmhouse launched in November last year and also encompasses a farm shop alongside the restaurant space.
To read Restaurant's recent feature on how the boom in UK wine production and wine tourism is seeing vineyards invest heavily in on-site restaurants, click here.
