Savor the Delicious

Written By: Marlene Osteen | Issue: April 2025

April Franqueza didn’t just land on the James Beard semifinalist list for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker — she baked her way there, one perfect cake, cookie, and tart at a time.

It all started in Warrenton, Virginia, where her parents (a D.C. cop and a science teacher) spent weekends baking with their daughter.

By high school, April’s dad looked her straight in the eye and said, “You should go to culinary school.”

She did — and found her calling at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, where she earned two degrees and met her future husband, savory chef Scott Franqueza.

France came next — traditional pastry work in Nice — followed by New York City gigs at Jacques Torres Chocolate and Magnolia Bakery. Big city kitchens sharpened her skills, but April always had her eye on the South. In 2016, she and Scott joined the culinary team at Blackberry Farm, one of the region’s culinary heavyweights.

When High Hampton Resort began building its new food program, they called the Franquezas. April and Scott arrived while the property was still under construction, charged with shaping the pastry and savory programs from the ground up.

At High Hampton, April makes everything from scratch, every day — English muffins for breakfast, pizza dough for lunch, parker house rolls for dinner, and desserts that guests still talk about long after they check out.

Her coconut cake, made with real coconut milk and toasted flakes, became an instant signature. So did her strawberry shortcake sundae, layered with macerated local berries and hunks of lemon butter cake. Her pastry case walks the line between nostalgia and precision — desserts that feel familiar, but taste like nothing you could make at home.

In January 2025, somewhere on the road to Texas, April’s phone lit up. Messages poured in — “Congratulations!” “Well deserved!” She had no idea what was happening until High Hampton’s marketing team called with the news: James Beard semifinalist. April cried.

For chefs, the James Beard Awards are a career-defining moment — national recognition from one of the most respected institutions in food. April is the only North Carolina pastry chef on the list this year, and while she’s honored (and still a little stunned), her focus hasn’t changed.

She’ll be back in the kitchen tomorrow morning, flour on her apron, shaping dough and tasting fillings. The goal is the same as it’s always been – bake something that makes people stop and savor the moment.