Chefs

Anne Becerra

Anne Becerra is still shocked that she's been able to turn her love for great beer into a career.  She was the first female Certified Cicerone in NYC and has been at the helm of some of the best beer bars and restaurants in Manhattan for over 14 years. With incredible attention to detail she's created strategic, comprehensive beverage programs, personalized training curricula and organizational systems, and helped build and develop hospitality brands while maintaining long term industry relationships that she uses to help foster a positive and professional culture in every project she takes on.  In 2019, she was named one of FSR Magazine’s “32 Restaurant Stars on the Rise,” and is not only enthusiastic about great beer and food, but the people and community that surrounds it. With a distinct focus on hospitality and storytelling, she believes the best part about beer is sharing it.

 In addition to her work in the bar and restaurant industry, Anne also has her hands in several other parts of the beer business, including creating and hosting the upcoming “Beer, Wine and Takeout.” In 2023 she launched annelikesbeer.com and “Quenched” - which focuses on beer and beverage-focused products and experiences. She has written for Serious Eats and Martha Stewart Living, and has been featured in The New York Times, CNN, The Rachael Ray Show, Food and Wine, TIME Magazine, Forbes, Marie Claire, NBC, Wall Street Journal, Viceland and countless others.  She's a regular guest on Sirius XM, and was the seasonal co-host on Beer Sessions Radio on the Heritage Radio Network.  Anne regularly curates and hosts dinners, tastings, and classes across the country, has helped organize major festivals and events, and has conducted seminars at The Women's Chef and Restaurateur Conference, Tales of the Cocktail, Glamour's Women of the Year Summit, the Japan Society, the Culinary Institute of America, and of course- the Food and Wine Classic in Aspen, amongst others.  She’s also frequently a beer judge for multiple state and national competitions. 

With a true passion for people and great conversation, she loves to explore the connection between beer, food, and pretty much anything delicious while using her platforms to promote and support the hospitality community, healthy living, and sustainable practices.

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Marie Stitt

Originally from Alabama, Marie Stitt grew up in Charleston and developed a love of food, wine, and restaurants early on thanks to her parents. She has worked on wine harvests in Napa and Austria and she studied sustainable food systems in Italy where she met her husband and business partner Edward. Marie spent 12 years with a local distributor, Grassroots Wine, as their director of sales and operations. She and Edward then opened, babas on cannon, an all day European-style cafe, in Charleston in 2018. Their third babas location is opening soon!

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Bethany Heinze

Bethany Heinze is the Co-Owner and Operations/Beverage Director at Vern’s, a modern American bistro located in downtown Charleston, SC. While growing up in central Ohio, Bethany became infatuated with Charleston’s vibrant culture and beautiful scenery from an early age and knew she would eventually put down roots in the Lowcountry. She later enrolled at the College of Charleston for her undergraduate degree, where she earned a double major in Hospitality Management and Business Administration and solidified her career path in the restaurant industry.

After working in many front-of-house positions and gaining hands-on experience in downtown Charleston’s bustling restaurant scene, Bethany accepted the position of Bar Manager at the formerly renowned McCrady’s restaurant in 2013. During her time there, Bethany gained invaluable skills and knowledge behind the bar and on the floor. Most importantly though, it was at McCrady’s where she met her now-husband and business partner, Chef Daniel (‘Dano’) Heinze. Excited to continue their professional growth together in the industry, the couple traded their views of the Lowcountry for the West Coast, and moved to Los Angeles, CA in 2016 to work with esteemed restaurateurs Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo of Joint Venture Restaurant Group.

Bethany assumed the role of General Manager at Animal, a highly influential restaurant featuring nose-to-tail cooking in West Hollywood. She also assisted with the restaurant group’s expansion by serving as the Wine Director & Manager for the concepts Jon & Vinny’s and Helen’s Wines, a buzzy Italian American restaurant with a curated natural wine shop nestled inside. In the fall of 2019, Bethany hit pause on restaurant work and traveled to Chablis, France to work harvest at Château de Béru, a biodynamic vineyard and winery. In 2020, Bethany returned to the United States and joined the team at Gjusta, an iconic all-day bakery & cafe in Venice Beach, where she served as the Front of House Manager.

In 2022, Bethany and husband Dano took a leap of faith and returned to Charleston to open their very own restaurant – Vern’s – a dream they had been working on for years. Here, Bethany oversees all operations and beverage programming. Her goal is to ensure that guests experience warm, attentive service and can select from a thoughtful beverage offering that compliments the seasonally driven menu. Exercising her passion for small-production wines, her program at Vern’s centers around sustainable farming with all selections following organic or biodynamic practices.

Vern’s has received an enthusiastic welcome from the Charleston community and many national media outlets, highlights including being named one of New York Times Most Exciting Restaurants of 2023 and a nomination for a James Beard Award, Best Chef Southeast.

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Steve Matthiasson

Steve Matthiasson is a revered Napa Valley-based winemaker, viticulturalist and organic farmer dedicated to environmental regeneration—and, by extension, to crafting classically balanced, delicious wines that speak truthfully to their upbringing. 

His endeavors have earned him the attention of consumers and critics alike under his own eponymous label, winning him Winemaker of the Year from both Food and Wine magazine and the San Francisco Chronicle, and making him a six-time James Beard Award nominee for Outstanding Wine, Spirits or Beer Professional. Steve is also sought after as a consulting winemaker and mentor to several private labels, and since 1996, he has provided viticultural consulting for historic Napa Valley vineyards such as Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Spottswoode Winery, the Araujo Estate, and Dalla Valle Vineyards, to name a few. 

Steve’s consulting, teaching and mentoring in organic and regenerative viticulture stand as a reaffirmation of his core belief that “great wine is made in the vineyard,” and his voice continues to resonate among his peers in the agricultural community: In addition to speaking around the world, he has formally served with organizations such as the American Vineyard Foundation, the Napa County Farm Bureau, and the Association of Applied IPM (Integrated Pest Management) Ecologists, and he teaches organic viticulture at the University of California at Davis. Steve also co-authored the California Code of Sustainable Conduct, Lodi Rules Sustainable Winegrowing Program, and Lodi Winegrowers Workbook. In 2020, Steve helped launch the viticulture fellowship program for San Francisco’s The Two Eighty Project, providing a path for marginalized people into the wine industry. 

Together with his wife Jill, Steve farms their own family vineyards and fruit-tree orchards in the Napa Valley. You’ll rarely (if ever) find Steve far from a pair of pruning shears or without his signature flannel and wide-brim straw hat. 

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Matthew Conway

Matthew Conway is the owner, operator, and sommelier at The Tippling House in Charleston’s Elliotborough neighborhood. The Tippling House is an intimate wine bar set in a Charleston Single house that Mr. Conway renovated to preserve its historic feel from when it was built in the late 1800’s. The daily wine list is printed and dated every day highlighting a global selection of bottles produced by families that respect the land they farm and the history of their domaines. All of the wines are available by the half bottle and are offered with a seasonal menu featuring wine-friendly small plates and entrees by Chef Micah Pearson. Conway also offers “Matthew’s Stash” which is a list of fine and rare wines from the best vintages and producers sourced from his personal cellar. Matthew prides himself on having created a wine bar that caters to all wine lovers regardless of taste or budget.

Mr. Conway moved to Charleston, South Carolina in March of 2020 after 17 years in New York City and 14 years as partner and beverage director at Restaurant Marc Forgione. Conway, a native Californian, moved to NYC in 2004 where he worked for the late Chef Gray Kunz at Café Gray in the Time Warner center from 2004-2007. In 2008 he became the general manager and wine buyer for Restaurant Marc Forgione in TriBeCa, before eventually becoming partner. In 2010 he took a short leave to work in the world-famous cellars of Taillevent in Paris, France. After returning in the fall of 2010 Restaurant Marc Forgione received one Michelin Star. Shortly thereafter, Matthew became a certified coffee sommelier, was honored as one of Zagat’s “30 Under 30” in 2012 and named one of Star Chefs “Rising Star Sommeliers” of 2015. Matthew has consistently been a featured sommelier at several of the top wine events of the year including but not limited to La Paulée and La Fête du Champagne. Matthew now holds partnership at La Tablée which focuses on the Northern Rhône Valley which Matthew is nationally recognized as a leading industry expert on.

Since opening The Tippling House in October 2021, his team has received glowing coverage from Wine Spectator, Food & Wine magazine and Charleston City Paper. In 2004 The Tippling House was named a ‘Top wine bar, according to the pros.” By Food and Wine Magazine. The Post & Courier named Matthew and his fiancé Carissa Hernandez a Charleston “Food and Beverage Power Couple” in February of 2022. He resides in downtown Charleston with Carissa and their two Pekingese Devlin and Zuccy.

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