Aria Names Elissa Hayward Executive Pastry Chef, Reuniting a Lazy Betty Duo

Aria has named Elissa Hayward executive pastry chef, a hire that reunites her with executive chef Austin Goetzman after their earlier run together at Lazy Betty.

The appointment matters beyond the title. Aria runs a four-way creative structure: Goetzman on savory, Eric Simpkins at the bar, and lead sommelier and assistant general manager Princeton Saunders on wine. Hayward now holds the fourth seat, and the team's model depends on ideas crossing those boundaries rather than staying inside them.

That cross-pollination is already producing menu items. Hayward and Saunders have been tasting wines for a red wine sorbet — a dessert built directly from the beverage program. Her conversations with Simpkins about smoked flavors have linked what happens at the pastry station to what happens behind the bar. She and Goetzman regularly taste each other's work, picking up a working relationship they first built at Lazy Betty.

Owner Andrés Loaiza said the hiring decision came down to range, not just technique. "Elissa's approach immediately stood out to us," Loaiza said. "She understands the entire kitchen, not just one part of it, and that comes through in the way she thinks about dessert. She has a strong technical foundation, but she also brings curiosity and personality to what she creates. We're excited to give her the room to explore that at Aria."

What does this change for Aria's menu?

The first visible output is a dessert Hayward is developing now: smoked vanilla mousse, green apple, turmeric, brown butter crumble, and caramel. The build is a fair summary of her method — classical French technique and familiar flavors, layered with unexpected ingredients, contrasting textures, and a subtle savory tilt.

Hayward's résumé explains the savory lean. She trained in both culinary arts and baking and pastry, then spent most of her early career on the savory side before committing fully to pastry several years ago. Her stops include Bouchon Bistro in California and, most recently, The Deer and the Dove in Decatur. That path still shapes how she builds a plate: French classics as the base, texture and memory as the variables.

A dessert, in her framing, might recall fall, a childhood favorite, or time around a campfire, then translate that feeling through a more refined lens. "I love the classics, but I also love playing with nostalgia and finding ways to make something feel familiar and new at the same time," Hayward said. "There can be something playful about the flavors while there is still a lot of technique behind them. That combination is what I'm always drawn to."

Hayward describes a team where everyone owns a specialty but the tasting and talking never stop. "Austin is focused on the savory menu, Eric and Princeton are bringing new ideas to the bar and wine programs, and I'm focused on pastry," she said. "We all have our own areas, but there is a lot of opportunity for those ideas to come together."

Her stated goal at Aria is parity across courses: pastry carrying the same attention to detail as the savory menu while still landing a surprise. "I'm excited to involve guests in the pastry side of the menu in the same way they experience the savory side," Hayward said. "I want dessert to feel like part of the complete meal, with just as much thought behind it, while also giving guests something they may not have expected."

Guests should watch the dessert list over the coming months — the red wine sorbet collaboration with Saunders suggests how far the beverage program will reach into pastry.