Our Pastry Chef’s Journey to Summer

This summer we’re dreaming of road trips, belly laughs, dinner parties, sparkly lakes, & chosen family. Memories made through collective experience, food, music, dance, & smells - all time stamps of different times and places we’ve traveled to.

We could barely hold back this feature on the newest member of our Revo management team - Executive Pastry Chef Elizabeth Jessup. Elizabeth did a short cameo on our pastry team in 2024 before she moved to Spain for several years. Recently returning with a big bang as our Executive Pastry Chef, Elizabeth has brought a passion and talent for pastry like no other before. Her true love of the craft and attention to detail are unmatched, and she has jumped in heart first creating unique and inspired menus that have our guests swooning. Elizabeth draws inspiration from her time spent traveling and living in places like Spain, Sweden, and France - using ingredients and memories as roadmaps to her unique creations.

We sat down with Elizabeth to tell this story, to share the roadmap of how her travels and lived experience helped shape our summer menu. We’re honored and excited for you to connect this spunky gal’s story to our latest creations…be ready to be inspired!

Tell us a little bit about your background and how you found your way into pastry.

“I grew up surrounded by amazing homemade dishes and baked goods. My childhood cartoons weren't SpongeBob—they were chefs like Emeril Lagasse and Alton Brown on Food Network.

I've always loved cooking and baking. I started with sourdough bread and was baking in a bakery when I eventually got the opportunity to work in their pastry program. They taught me so much, especially the fundamentals, and I was able to take those basics with me and continue experimenting and learning on my own.

I never went to pastry school. I just read a lot. I'm fascinated by the world of pastry and the endless techniques, varieties, and opportunities it offers. There's always something new to learn and new ways to work with seasonal produce and ingredients.

For me, cooking and baking are also forms of meditation. They provide an opportunity to exhibit  mindfulness, emotion, and intention. They ground my focus, and for me, they're also a love language.

Pastry has taught me patience, organization, perseverance, and the value of reward. Baking for others is an opportunity to give back and say thank you beyond words. It's a blissful moment that fills you up from the inside out.”

You've lived in different places around the world. Which experiences have most shaped your approach to baking?

“My time in Sweden, France, and Spain really influenced the philosophy of pastry that I carry with me today.

I view even the seemingly simplest ingredient as an outlet for creativity, a formable self-expression, and connection to the earth and its ever-changing seasons. Every season gifts us with new produce and plants — something different all around the world. Seeing how others tie what's on their plates or in their cups culturally to tradition, how they honor ancestral methods that evoke memory to carry with you always and share with those that cross your path — or how what to them is a foreign flavor could be new, exciting, or different — it's incredible.

What's on your plate matters. Consumption should be intentional, never rushed, but savored and appreciated for how it got there. Environmental sustainability is important. Food is medicine, and alive, providing energy that drives with every bite and offers an opportunity to awaken.

I hope people take a little more time to savor the ingredients on their plate, think about where they came from, and notice how they make them feel.”

How does travel influence the flavors + ingredients you incorporate into your pastries?

“A plate is like a puzzle - piecing together memories and moments among a long table filled with laughter and community connection or an emotional trigger to your own personal journey.

I think that flavors and ingredients from all around the world mean different things depending on where you are in the world, and I love exploring those differences.

One of the themes that ties so many of my pastries together is nostalgia and memory.”

Strawberry White Chocolate Scone

“In 2023, I was invited to a friend's home in Sweden to celebrate Midsummer. I didn't even know what Midsummer was until I went. It was this incredible celebration with days of preparation. People from all around the world came together, and we stayed at her family's home. We sailed through the Swedish archipelago, made flower crowns from wild plants and elderflowers, and celebrated the arrival of summer.

The pastry connection came through the traditional Swedish strawberry cake. During Midsummer, strawberries represent summertime because they aren't available year-round. People genuinely wait for that season. The tiny wild strawberries we picked were unlike anything I'd ever tasted.

For this season's Roasted Balsamic Strawberry Scone, I keep thinking about that table filled with pickled herring, Swedish meatballs, vinegary salads, and all these unfamiliar foods. Then we'd finish the meal with a beautiful strawberry cake.

The scone is my way of sharing that memory—sitting around that table, experiencing another culture, and ending the meal with something sweet and seasonal.

I love that traditions can be passed from generation to generation and even from culture to culture. Midsummer is something I hold dear, and I get to translate those memories into pastries that I can share with others.”

Passionfruit Pistachio Cake

“Every component of this cake is tied to a memory I hold close.

The passionfruit comes from my own life. The first home I lived in by myself had a massive passionfruit vine growing along the fence — honestly, one of the reasons I rented the place. I cared for that vine like it was my child, and it gave me so much fruit. When I lived in Spain I missed it terribly, so when I returned home I planted another vine and fell in love with it all over again.

The pistachio cake and crème fraîche frosting are connected to a special experience I had in southern France. A friend I met in Spain invited me to stay with her family in Biarritz.

 

One evening, her family hosted a cheese dinner. The meal consisted of beautiful breads from a local bakery and cheeses from the region. It was simple, intentional, and memorable.

For dessert, we had a pistachio financier—the first financier I'd ever tried. That experience inspired the pistachio cake, while the combination of cream cheese and crème fraîche frosting reflects the incredible dairy products I enjoyed during that trip.

Like every great French meal, we also started dinner with radishes. That's why the garnish on the cake is a delicate radish flower.

At first, I chose it simply because the purple-and-white flower looked beautiful next to the vibrant yellow passionfruit curd and bright green pistachios. Later, I realized it connected directly back to that dinner in France.

It's funny how those memories work their way into the pastries without you even realizing it.”

Oreo Pop Tart

“The Oreo Pop Tart is pure childhood nostalgia.

Although I was born in Spain, I spent most of my life here in Oceanside and Southern California. Growing up, my friends and I spent a lot of time at the Oceanside Pier. In the summertime, we'd go to Ruby's Diner and share Butterfinger milkshakes and Oreo milkshakes.

For me, the Oreo Pop Tart captures that exact memory. The buttery, flaky dough reminds me of the crunch and richness of those milkshakes, while the filling brings that classic cookies-and-cream flavor to life.

It's really an Oreo milkshake in pastry form, and it's my way of paying tribute to summer afternoons with friends in Oceanside.”

What do you hope people take away when they enjoy your pastries?

“I hope people think a little more deeply about the food on their plate, take the time to savor the ingredients, think about where they came from, and appreciate the work that went into getting them there.

I think it's important to support farmers, visit farmers markets, and understand the stories behind the food we eat. In a world that encourages constant consumption and convenience, there's value in slowing down and appreciating what's seasonal and local.

Food connects us—to people, places, cultures, memories, and traditions.

For me, every pastry has a story behind it, and sharing those stories is one of the most meaningful parts.”