New York – 14 November 2017 –
Lifestyle hospitality company Sbe appointed Martin Heierling as its first ever Chief Culinary Officer. Martin will lead Sbe and subsidiary company Disruptive Restaurant Group’s culinary strategy across its current brand portfolio, overseeing collaboration with Sbe’s concept chefs and more than 112 venues globally, including 26 Umami Burgers. He joins as a consultant until the end of the year and will assume the role in January 2018, working closely with Sbe Founder and CEO, Sam Nazarian, Chief Operating Officer, Jorge Giannattasio, and CEO of Disruptive Restaurant Group & Umami Burger, Daniel del Olmo.
Martin joins the company as it embarks on a period of unprecedented growth with a strategic focus on culinary and entertainment – including 13 venues opening in the next six months, and over 100 venues and 25 to 50 Umami Burgers in the pipeline. Martin will provide direction and support to Sbe’s hotel division, including banquets and catering, whose brands include SLS, Delano, The Redbury, Mondrian, Hyde, the Originals, and with Disruptive Restaurant Group brands including award-winning Katsuya, Cleo, The Bazaar, Fi’lia and Umami Burger. Martin will also work closely with our partners Alshaya in the Middle East to bring five more Katsuyas and our first two Cleos to the region, and with Medeiros Holdings to expand Umami Burger to 10 locations in Japan.
Prior to joining Sbe, Martin served as Culinary Director for STARR Restaurant Organization based in Philadelphia where he was part of the leadership team, growing the company from 24 restaurants to 32 within three years as well as managing the rapid growth of SRO’s Catering Culinary division, STARR Restaurants Catering Group, with annual sales of over $40 million. His accomplishments with STARR also include openings of Washington D.C.’s Le Diplomate as well as New York’s Carnegie Hall and The Botanical Gardens in The Bronx.
Martin holds a Trade Certificate from the German Chamber of Commerce and attended Auckland Institute of Technology’s Small Business Management School in New Zealand.