Nashville's renowned pastry chef Noelle Marchetti

Inspiration takes many forms for Noelle Marchetti, the executive pastry chef at The Joseph Hotel.

• She tells Axios that a piece of local pottery might spark an idea for one dessert. Another might incorporate research on festivals in Italy.

It can take The Joseph Hotel team weeks of testing and tasting to develop those threads of inspiration into a dazzling dessert.

• Their hard work is evident, as is their passion and creativity.

Why it matters: Marchetti has received national acclaim for the delicious dishes she produces at The Joseph. She is a semifinalist for the 2023 James Beard Award for best pastry chef.

What she's saying: Marchetti says her goal is to "take people on a journey through their food."

• "It's really trying to connect food with emotion, and have that story behind it. Not just eating to eat."

Zoom in: The desserts at Yolan, the hotel's restaurant, bob and weave between textures and flavors.

• The "Mele" dessert on the menu now brings warm and familiar flavors of apple and pavlova together with creamy brinata cheese and herbaceous fennel blossoms.

Worth noting: Yolan offers high-end, luxurious desserts that you'd expect at a fine-dining date night, but Marchetti and her team also produce goodies for the hotel's coffee bar and the rooftop bar Denim.

• Those locations offer additional entry points into her work, from apple cider churros to a triple chocolate muffin.

Flashback: Marchetti has been preparing for this work for a lifetime. She grew up in the Hudson Valley, and spent a lot of time baking with her grandfather, who loved experimenting with recipes.

• She was an only child, so to pass time, her family would set up a camera to record her make-believe cooking shows using whatever was in the fridge.

• Her talent shone through, and everyone began looking forward to her desserts at Thanksgiving.

She graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, started working at hotels across the country and eventually came to Nashville to help open The Joseph in 2020.

What's next: The James Beard Award nominees will be announced next week here in Nashville.

• Marchetti is adamant that she wouldn't have made it this far without her nine-person team.
• "This is a very collective effort of very talented individuals that all come together," she says. "I'm lucky enough to be able to help lead them."

Go deeper: Check out our features on the other Nashville figures up for James Beard recognition in national categories.

• Julio Hernandez of Maiz de la Vida is a semifinalist for best emerging chef, while the brain trust behind Slim & Husky's are semifinalists for outstanding restaurateur.