Courtesy of Aria.
Elissa Hayward, the newly appointed executive pastry chef at Aria, is already making her mark on the dessert menu at the Buckhead institution. She and Executive Chef Austin Goetzman previously worked together at Lazy Betty, so joining forces again felt like a natural fit.
“I love the idea of taking really classic technique and doing it our way—meshing modern food with old technique,” she says.
Hayward’s path to desserts led her through the savory side of the kitchen. The Kennesaw native earned degrees in both the culinary arts and baking and pastry, working at Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bistro in Napa and as the executive sous chef at MacArthur Place Hotel in Sonoma. Throughout her career, she’s made cakes and taught pastry classes on the side, keeping her love of sweets alive. She moved back to Atlanta, working on the pastry station at Michelin-starred Lazy Betty and then as executive pastry chef at the Deer and the Dove, Fawn, and B-Side, James Beard Award-winning chef Terry Koval’s family of restaurants.
Photo by Brandon Amato.
Since beginning her new post in August, she’s been rolling out one new menu item at a time with the goal of streamlining Aria’s dessert offerings. Once the menu is 100 percent hers, it will feature four items, plus a trio of housemade sorbets, and a few other surprises. She leans in to classic French techniques, but plays with flavor combinations. Just like Goetzman’s philosophy with the restaurant’s savory dishes, Hayward prefers a seasonal approach to dessert.
“I like the idea of changing it up as much as possible,” she says. “I love for things to be constantly changing. I don’t like stagnancy at all.”
One such dessert that’s tailor-made for Autumn features an entremet—a multi-layer French dessert made of smoked vanilla mousse, accented with green apple, turmeric, brown butter, and caramel.
Hayward’s love of savory dishes is evident in another new offering. Her version of a cheese course has a creamy gorgonzola pannacotto, paired with a spiced poached pear, served with pear sorbet and candied walnuts. “It’s great for those who don’t always go for a sweet treat at the end of a meal,” she says.
Photo courtesy of Aria.
Aria has seen big changes in the last couple of years. Founding owner and chef Gerry Klaskala, who opened the restaurant in 2000, sold it to longtime General Manager Andrés Loaiza in 2025. Then, Chef Joseph Harrison was at the helm of the kitchen for less than a year. Goetzman, who worked under Klaskala early in his career, signed on to lead the kitchen in June.
Hayward knew that her style of highly technical, yet whimsical desserts would fit right in with Goetzman’s vision and Aria’s long legacy of non-pretentious fine dining.
“I just love how Aria is so classy,” she says. “It’s not stuffy. It’s really nice food, done really, really well.”
Photo courtesy of Aria.
