Heath De Fount-Haberlin is a 7th generation San Franciscian (original San Francisco 49'ers) and he is a 5th generation Azorean Portuguese resident of Southern Marin County. Heath's Azorean Portuguese De Fount (da Fonte Garcia) family hail from the Azorean islands of Pico, Faial and Sao Jorge since the early-17th century (1625 to be exact). 

His local culinary heritage is full of multi-generational chefs. His maternal German immigrant great-great-great grandfather Jacob Breiling was the first butcher in San Francisco in 1850. Jacob’s German deer-handled carving knives were handed down through the generations to Heath. His British paternal great-grandfather Alvan Symons moved to San Francisco from Chicago the day before the 1906 earthquake and was a chef at both Hedgewig's and the historic Palace Hotel for decades. According the Haberlin/Symons’ family lore, his specialty was Parker rolls. 

Both his father, San Francisco Fire Department Assistant Chief Dave Haberlin, and his maternal grandfather, Eugene “Gene” Aloyisus De Fount, were San Francisco Fire Department firemen and chefs who regularly cooked for 40 firemen in the San Francisco Fire Department for over three decades each.

Both men were profound influences on Heath’s culinary upbringing and his palette.

Heath’s father, Dave Haberlin, was a abalone diver with whom Heath dove with and an avid fisherman with whom Heath fished with throughout his childhood. Dave’s signature dishes were abalone, clam chowder, Cioppino and puttanesca “Pasta of the whores.”

Heath’s grandfather Gene loved the finer things in life such as Basque cuisine, lamb, pate, red wine and high-end alcohol. Heath would sit with his grandfather for hours on end watching Chef Julia Childs’ television cooking show.

Heath includes both famed celebrity chef Julia Childs and world renowned four star Michellin-rated French chef Paul Haberlin as a relatives as well.

In addition, Heath’s mother, Donna (De Fount) Haberlin was a massive culinary influence but not so much in cooking but in accompanying Heath on thousands of culinary excursions to amazing restaurants around the Bay Area in the shape of a triangle from Sonoma Plaza (North Bay) to Martinez ( East Bay) to Pescadero (South Bay) but most importantly the city closest to both Donna’s and Heath’s collective hearts and, coincidentally, in the center of this culinary triangle: the most beautiful city in the world San Francisco. If you cannot find something extraordinary in San Francisco’s 3,500 restaurants and 660 bars something is wrong with you.

To quote the great Anthony Bourdain, “Anyone who does not have great time San Francisco is pretty much dead to me. You go there as a snarky New Yorker thinking it’s politically correct, it’s crunchy granola, it’s vegetarian, and it surprises you every time. It’s a two-fisted drinking town, a carnivorous meat-eating town, it’s dirty and nasty and wonderful.”

Since the late-1980’s, has worked as an oyster chef and as a Marin oyster/cheese tour guide in West Marin. Heath brings clients to such historic oyster destinations as Johnson’s Oyster Farm which later became Drake’s Bay Oyster Company, Tomales Bay Oyster Company and Hogg Island Oyster Company. Other destinations included the historic Marin French Cheese Company which is the oldest cheese company in the United Sates and was founded in 1865.

In 2003, Chef Heath De Fount-Haberlin began working as a private chef, firstly, in Sun Valley, Idaho for Jensen-Stern family and, secondly in 2006, in Aspen, Colorado for the Saban family.

Starting in 2008, Chef Heath De Fount-Haberlin has run (and cooked for thousands of "foodie" guests) at the Far West Festival Oyster-Off at Love Field in Point Reyes, California. In 2014, for 6th consecutive year in a row, chef/musician Heath De Fount-Haberlin won the best-in-show oyster sauce competition (with his signature winning dish was "Heathro's Bingos") as voted for by the public. In addition to handling the Far West Festival's Oyster-Off competition, Heath's Azorean Portuguese catering company also served his signature dish "Portuguese Paella" and sangria. To date, Chef Heath has cooked over 1,500 paellas.

Recently, in 2016, Chef Heath De Fount-Haberlin became iconic winemaker Sean Thackrey’s personal chef.

Chef Heath De Fount-Haberlin has been both cooking paella and serving wines at wine tasting events for Sean Thackrey Wines in both Bolinas, California and in Forestville, California. Heath also had a hand in producing small batches of wine (3,000 bottles) with Sean as well. 

Sean Thackrey is one of the most influential people in the Bay Area Food & Wine community, and has been for nearly three decades. Along with luminaries like Alice Waters and Kermit Lynch. Sean Thackrey is deeply linked to the shaping of food & wine as we know it, and to this day represents many of the best and most ground-breaking practices in our industry. 

Since 1980, Sean has been producing wines that are extraordinary not only for great quality and complexity, but also because Sean utilizes unique wine-making techniques, often drawing from historic, sometimes ancient, wine-making practices from all over the world. The results are consistent, as evidenced by Sean’s continued support and enthusiasm from his peers and devoted customers. Sean sources grapes from many locations throughout California, and makes all his wines by hand–”touching every grape”–at his small Bolinas winery. Self-taught, and fully reliant on his intuition and senses, Sean is the antithesis of corporate wine-making. The proof is in the bottle. 

Sean Thackrey passed away on May 30, 2022. Chef Heath De Fount-Haberlin made Irish lamb stew and paella for over 600 guests of Sean Thackrey’s Celebration of Life in Bolinas, California. Heath eulogized Sean as well that day.

In May of 2023, Chef Heath De Fount-Haberlin partnered with the Spanish Table as their sole paella chef. The Spanish Table is a specialty import store focused on food, wine, and cookware from Spain and Portugal. The Spanish Table is located in Marin, Berkeley and San Francisco.  Through the Spanish Table, Chef Heath teaches private group paella making classes and does paella pop-ups in front Spanish Table’s free Spanish and Portuguese wine tasting events.

In 2023, Chef Heath De Fount-Haberlin of the Spanish Table was selected as one of the top chefs in the Bay Area for the annual Great Chefs & Wineries award-winning charity event. The event which featured the iconic East Bay funk band Tower of Power was held at the Craneway Pavilion on May 6, 2023 at the historic Richmond Waterfront. Musician Huey Lewis is the Honorary Chair, Chef Heidi Krahling is the Culinary Chair and Betty Yu is the Master of Ceremonies.

Chef Heath De Fount-Haberlin made his signature paella for over 500 guests along side other great Bay Area chefs from the following well known restaurants: Bungalow Kitchen, Burmatown, Epic Steak, Il Davide, Insalatas, Marinitas, Mersea, Left Bank, Petite Left Bank, Perry's, Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company, Perkin's Catering Company, The Spanish Table with Chef Heath De Fount-Haberlin, Sushi Ran, State Room, Sam's Anchor Cafe, Table Culture Provisions, Tamalpie Pizza Bar, Rustic Bakery, Ital Foods Inc. and Fiorello's Artisan Gelato.

For almost 70 years, Lifehouse has been dedicated to ensuring that individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities are accepted, have a place in our community and are able to lead full lives. Our annual Great Chefs & Wineries event is a celebration of the people we support and the community that so graciously lifts us up. We hope that you will join us for great food, fine wine, and world-class entertainment as we raise funds to make certain that Lifehouse is able to continue its vital mission and commitment to our community.

https://www.greatchefsandwineries.org

The Spanish Table went out of business in January of 2026.

Chef Heath De Fount-Haberlin works with the Mill Valley Golf Course, the Mill Valley Rotary Club, the Mill Valley Masonic Hall (Masonic Lodge No. 356), the 2AM Club, the Indian Valley Golf Course, the Tamalpais High School Hall of Fame dinner, the IDESST Portuguese Cultural Center in Sausalito, California, the TVIC (The Tamalpais Improvement Club) in Tamalpais Valley, California and Slide Ranch in Muir Beach (Bello Beach), California. In San Francisco, Heath makes paella at the Philosophers’ Club located in the West Portal District.

Chef Heath De Fount-Haberlin and his girlfriend, Chef Gretchen Stagg, own a private catering company called H&G Catering in Mill Valley, California. They cater private events, festivals, birthdays, weddings and funerals. Their clients in Marin County are located in Sausalito, Mill Valley, Tamalpais Valley, Tiburon, Belvedere , Seadrift, Bolinas. Their Sonoma County clients are located in Sonoma, Sebastopol, Heldsburg and Windsor. In addition, they also have clients in both San Francisco and in Palo Alto, California.

In May of 2026, Chef Heath De Fount-Haberlin became the Executive Chef of the historic Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley, California. Heath handles the Sweetwater Music Hall’s private events and weddings.

Chef Heath De Fount-Haberlin works with both the Lifehouse in San Rafael, California and with San Francisco's historic Glide Memorial Church in the city's Tenderloin District helping and feeding the needy.

Chef/musician Heath De Fount-Haberlin resides in both Marin County and South Lake Tahoe. Heath mourns the passing his beloved senior chihuahua "Tazmania" the Devil Dog.