Heda's skill was recognized early on in his career by other notable figures in Haarlem, such as Samuel Ampzing, a Dutch minister and poet from Haarlem, who captured the city in poetry. Heda won enough local fame in his own day for Ampzing to praise him in the same breath with Salomon de Bray and Pieter Claesz in his 1628 "Beschryvinge ende lof der stad Haerlem in Holland". "ha[ve to praise Heda with the banquet pieces of Solomon de bray and Pieter Claesz, their skill deserves to be mentioned in his poem."