Top Pastry Chefs to Check Out in Atlanta

Meet the Chefs

Atlanta is home to talented chefs, innovative dishes and unique dining experiences.The food story has many protagonists, among them prestigious pastry chefs who give diners a taste of their own story through their pastries and desserts. From traditional Southern desserts to modern takes on sweet classics, in Atlanta, there is a pastry for every palate. Here are some of the pastry chefs whose creations you must try. 

Chef Christian Castillo
THE CHASTAIN

Telling a story of love and bringing into his creations travel experiences, executive pastry chef Christian Castillo captivates Buckhead with pastries at THE CHASTAIN. From the moment you step into the modern AM CAFÉ, located across the street from Chastain Park, the smell of fresh croissants and freshly brewed coffee welcomes you.

This native of Argentina offers bold flavors made with locally sourced ingredients that are inspired by his travels through Mexico, Argentina, and Peru. From the perfect French cranberry orange brioche buns to a Mexican chocolate coffee concha, the choices at THE CHASTAIN are unforgettable bites of diversity. 

Chef Castillo focuses on high-quality ingredients and deep attention to detail. One of his values as a chef is to cook from the heart. “We make pastries to make people happy,” says chef Castillo. “I’m expressing love.” Very often, his pastries transport guests to a place of nostalgia and help create core memories with each bite. 

Visit THE CHASTAIN for a taste of chef Castillo’s flavors. 4320 Powers Ferry Road NW in Buckhead

Chef Claudia Martinez
Miller Union

Award-winning chef Claudia Martinez gives diners at Miller Union restaurant a reason to never skip dessert. With seasonal, fruit-forward sophisticated confections, chef Martinez offers options for all palates. Her ever-changing pastry menu features desserts with the right amount of sweetness and an array of carefully crafted flavors. Her experience and curiosity are evident in the way she plays with classic flavors and innovative ideas. A native Georgian, raised in a Venezuelan home, chef Martinez crafted her art in Sweden, then later came back to Atlanta bringing her talents to some of Atlanta’s iconic restaurants. 

The James Beard Award finalist perfects the art of plating and creating beautiful desserts at Miller Union and for nonprofit initiatives around the city through Café Claudia. Her Atlanta-based pop-up café partners with local Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) chefs and social justice organizations to raise funds for various causes. 

Chef Martinez is one of the chefs featured in Fearless Innovation: Atlanta’s Food Story, a cookbook that exemplifies the diversity in the Atlanta food scene by showcasing Atlanta’s most unpretentious and courageous chefs.

Head over to Atlanta’s Westside and experience chef Martinez’s creative desserts at Miller Union. 999 Brady Ave. NW

Chef Daniella Lea Rada
Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta

A beautiful sweet sight is Sunday’s lavish brunch at Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta, where executive pastry chef Daniella Lea Rada lays out an array of baked confections and perfectly crafted desserts. No Sunday is the same as she pushes the envelope week after week with desserts, house-made bread, croissants, Danishes, muffins and much more. Atlantans recognize her flaky, golden-brown Parisian pastries through the flavors. One bite and they know it’s hers. 

As a native Venezuelan who has baked across Latin America, chef Lea incorporates some Latin ingredients such as queso panela and guava. Her techniques and flavors are also influenced by her studies and travels around the world, including some of the world’s most prestigious culinary institutions in France, Latin America and the United States.

Aside from the iconic brunch, she is the master behind all house-crafted desserts, chocolates, pastries and viennoiseries. “Pastry has a very important weight in the menu,” chef Lea says. “I want diners to leave and still think about my dessert.”

You can devour chef Lea’s sweet creations in Midtown at Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta, including its restaurants Park 75 and Bar Margot. 75 Fourteenth St. NE

Chef Lindsey Davis
Kimpton Shane Hotel

Pastry chef Lindsey Davis at the new Kimpton Shane Hotel in Midtown delights diners with unforgettable bites. Her pastries have various textures and notes known for not being overly sweet and sometimes with hints of citrus. Chef Davis, who kicked off her career by not winning a baking competition at the age of 14, represents much of herself in light and balanced desserts where strong, precise techniques are evident, showcasing her incomparable skills as a talented pastry chef. 

Chef Davis’s goal is to expand people’s horizons by offering food in a way that they will accept it. She wants guests to try ingredients they didn’t think would go well together and then discover new culinary adventures and flavors to love. Biting into one of her desserts is an adventure with an array of textures and flavors that somehow work together.

Chef Davis aims to bring the same experience to all diners despite food restrictions. She studies formulas and develops recipes tirelessly, until the difference between a vegan, dairy-free or non-vegan dish is impossible to differentiate, offering the same exquisite flavors to all. “I try to bring a little bit of myself into what I bake,” says chef Davis about her inspiration when creating and crafting her work.

Check out chef Davis’s work at Hartley Kitchen and Cocktails and Aveline located at Kimpton Shane Hotel. 1340 West Peachtree St. NW

Chef Ricky Saucedo
Zúcar Pattisery and Friend’s Table PC

Chef Ricky Saucedo, owner of Zúcar Pattisery, and executive pastry chef at Friend’s Table (formerly known as Highland Bakery in Peachtree City) is a Georgia native with a Mexican upbringing who tells his story through delectable pastries and desserts. While his career in the kitchen officially started after a long journey as a professional musician, cooking has always been part of his life. Raised in the food industry in family-owned restaurants, hospitality and the art of cooking hold a very dear place in his heart. 

Walk into Friend’s Table and find the pastry’s display case full of chocolate Nutella-stuffed French croissants, Boston creme eclairs, cookie butter brioche swirls, tiramisu and everyone’s favorite – twice-baked almond croissants.

Chef Saucedo specializes in French pastries, but his creative cakes have also made a statement in Atlanta’s food story. He likes to play with textures and mix unusual ingredients, such as herbs, into a dessert. Don’t shy away from one of his creations that include basil or spice. The experience is flavorsome.

Connect with chef Saucedo through social media at @ricky_zucar to order customized cakes and pastries all over Atlanta or come enjoy them any day at Friend’s Table in Peachtree City. 238 City Center, Suite 1020

Esco Hill
Esco Eats

Atlanta native Esco Hill accidentally developed the recipe for The World Famous Apple Cobbler Pie. In the midst of recording an episode for his food entertainment video series, he found himself ignoring a recipe, just following his intuition and pulling off a dessert that would change his life and enter Atlanta’s food story. Esco Eats pivoted during the pandemic and went from being a TV series to just serving a take on a traditional, flavorful dessert from the South.

The pie is two desserts in one. Served cold it is an apple pie. Served warm it is a sweet apple cobbler pie. The pies are handmade to order by Esco himself and are available for corporate events in individual sizes or to the public by the slice with the option to add a nice scoop of ice cream at Purpose Pops ATL on Edgewood. 

Despite not being an official pastry chef, Esco pours his heart and soul into his very own apple cobbler pie.

Head over to Edgewood in Downtown, and grab a slice of Esco Eats at Purpose Pops ATL., 381 Edgewood Ave. SE

Pastries hold a very special place in the dining experience, and Atlanta is proud to be home to some of the best. Each pastry chef offers different flavors, techniques and stories, which represent the diversity of Atlanta’s food story. Don’t skip dessert, savor each bite and discover sophisticated, innovative, and exquisite sweet bites.