Morgan Heller

After a long journey to find my path in life, I found my purpose through sharing my love for food and creating new dishes inspired by flavors and culinary traditions from around the world. I am driven by creativity, curiosity, and a constant desire to push culinary ideas beyond the expected. My experience has taught me what matters on the plate while also giving me a strong understanding of what is essential to running and leading a successful kitchen.

I thrive under pressure, embrace challenges, and am motivated to learn and grow every day. My strong work ethic, clear communication, and commitment to my team have been the foundation of my success. I am always looking for the next idea, challenge, and opportunity to elevate the culinary experience.

Executive Chef at Ivy Living (2025-11 – Present)

• Utilize monthly P&L statements to monitor financial performance, track pricing, analyze COGS, and identify opportunities for improved profitability
• Manage food and labor costs through strategic purchasing, inventory control, menu pricing, scheduling, and waste reduction
• Develop weekly menus featuring two daily rotating specials, balancing variety, seasonality, product availability, food cost, and member satisfaction
• Direct the daily operations of the entire culinary team, ensuring consistent execution, organization, sanitation, quality, and service standards
• Lead, train, coach, and hold culinary team members accountable for performance, productivity, and adherence to company standards
• Implement operational procedures and systems designed to improve efficiency, consistency, accountability, and profitability

Chef de Cuisine at Private Suites (2024-04 – 2025-06)

• Orchestrated the successful opening of a ghost kitchen, overseeing all operational and logistical setup
• Managed two separate kitchen locations by establishing and maintaining standard operating procedures and clear lines of communication
• Sourced and secured new vendors to provide local, high quality products showcasing regional cuisine
• Led research and development, recipe creation and individualized tastings for seasonal menu changes, high-profile clientele and media
• Maintained consistent communication with leadership teams across both Atlanta and Los Angeles locations

Executive Sous Chef at Heritage Barbecue (2020-12 – 2024-04)

• Created new plated specials daily, enhancing barbeque menu to be globally inspired for high yield service and special holiday orders
• Coordinated and executed both on and off-site catering events on a frequent basis
• Appeared in a live, on-camera demonstration for Disney's Food and Wine Festival 2022
• Assisted the restaurant in achieving Bib Gourmand for three consecutive years, as well as Best Restaurant in multiple publications

Sous Chef at Benchmark (2019-11 – 2020-11)

• Promoted from Lead Line to Sous Chef, leading a team of six cooks. Supervising prep while working sautee and expo
• Gained experience in submitting food and beverage orders and facilitated in communications with vendors
• Created menu specials specifically designed to limit loss and food waste
• Trusted with full responsibility of kitchen operations while Executive Chef was unavailable
• Assisted the restaurant in achieving Best Restaurants 2020 Orange Coast Magazine

Culinary Arts – CulinaryLab Cooking School (2018-04 – 2018-09)