Women Building Food Businesses, Part One: One Chef is a Pastry Rock Star
Written by Jan Norris
Photos by Elizabeth Palace
In Jupiter, food is more than just a meal—it’s a mission, a memory, and in many cases, a woman’s work. A group of local women are building food businesses with deep roots and strong values. They aren’t just cooking or serving—they’re teaching, roasting, crafting, and mentoring. And they’re doing it with purpose. Meet the first in our series of them.
Denise Elrod, Blackbird Modern Asian Executive Pastry Chef Denise Elrod knew the exact moment she wanted to become a pastry chef.
“It was part of my high school culinary program. It was a public high school trade center; a great school.
“This particular day, we were going to break down raw chicken. I couldn’t do it. I told the chef ‘I don’t think culinary is for me.”
The chef walked her outside the classroom. “Maybe baking and pastry is more up your alley.” She moved into the pastry classroom at the Las Vegas high school, and from that day on, she’s been baking.
She now is pastry chef at Blackbird in Jupiter.
Her talent was recognized early. “I took the gold for state at 16,” she said, referring to a professional pastry arts competition. “From then on, I stuck with it.”
Like many who grew up in the TV celebrity chef era, she networked her way up the ladder, working in some of the top kitchens in the country with noted chefs.
In high school, she was an apprentice in Thomas Keller’s bakery, Bouchon at the Venetian.
She began at the bottom. “The first day I was scrubbing coolers and scrubbing the grout with a toothbrush. I worked for $3.25 an hour.”
One of her early jobs was as a pastry cook for Joel Robuchon Las Vegas at the MGM Grand. Robuchon is notable in the food world as the only chef to attain 32 Michelin stars among his restaurants around the world.
The young Elrod didn’t realize the legend, however; she only wanted to further her career.
“I don’t think I fully understood where I was and what that trajectory would be. It skyrocketed my career,” she said.
It was a heady time to be an apprentice, she said. The hard work daily for hours on end culminated in hard partying in the wee hours among the cooks and chefs. “People were snorting cocaine just to stay awake.”
She kept away from that part of the culture, and pushed to learn more. She left Robuchon to learn chocolate work. She tapped Norman Love, another notable chef, to learn the work from his chocolate shop in Fort Myers.
“I started from the bottom, doing a scraping job.” It was menial, cleaning up benches after the chefs. But she was dedicated, working 12-hour days, seven days a week. Soon she was creating chocolate showpieces for his shops.
In 2014 and again in 2015, she entered the American Culinary Federation’s prestigious pastry competition in Orlando, and won gold medals for her showpieces.
“I always push myself,” she said.
She returned to the MGM Grand when a plethora of top chefs were moving in. As the hotel’s assistant pastry chef, she helped launch top restaurants such as Morimoto, Tom Colicchio’s Craftsteak, and others in the three-plus years there.
In 2016, she launched her own artisan chocolate shop online, Chocolatebuzz. After Covid, however, she had to shut it down.
Then Guy Fieri, host of Guy’s Grocery Games on the Food Network gave her the chance to cook before a national audience. She walked away with the $20,000 grand prize for her twists on lava cake and tiramisu.
Elrod took a break in 2020, after giving birth to twin girls. Soon after, with her family — husband Levi, a son now 6 and twin daughters, 5 — she moved to Hobe Sound. They live 12 minutes from Blackbird.
At the modern Asian restaurant, she’s got an easier schedule than the hectic days in Las Vegas.
“It’s been this really cool collaboration of trust,” she said.
She created the pastry menu for the innovative menu, and has been given free rein to do what she loves.
She talks with her spouse, also a pastry chef, about opening another market and online shop with artisan chocolates. “I like the balance of having my own business, and collaborating with others.”
She’s also been back to Guy’s Grocery Games as a champion. But results aren’t in just yet, she said. Meanwhile, she bakes at home, presently experimenting with tortillas and breads. “I’m trying to branch out,” she said. She’s watching online trends.
“I’m doing high protein muffins and waffles; using yogurt and cottage cheese is hot right now. Hiding the good stuff.”
Blackbird, 1115 N. Old Dixie Highway, Jupiter.
Phone (561) 589-7505
blackbirdmodernasian.com.
