Growing up, Elisha Smiley was always into classic movies, her favorite being Roman Holiday. The 1953 film features Audrey Hepburn as a princess who escapes her royal life for one charmed day, gallivanting with an American journalist on a Vespa through Rome. Hepburn tasting gelato on the Spanish Steps in one scene particularly beguiled Elisha, already obsessed as a kid with Baskin-Robbins’ Jamoca Almond Fudge and churning homemade frozen custard with her grandparents on summer breaks.
Elisha’s love of Roman Holiday influenced her own path as a pastry chef, as she rode her own Vespa to her first job at St. Helena’s Model Bakery in the aughts.
Elisha then worked pastry jobs at famed Italian restaurants in New York City and San Francisco and learned the authentic formulation of gelato at the Carpigiani Gelato University in Bologna, Italy. The pandemic steered her back to Napa, where she taught in the pastry program at the Culinary Institute of America. Elisha passed on her passion for ice cream and gelato and attended Penn State’s renowned Ice Cream Short Course to refine her knowledge of all things dairy.
In 2023, Elisha delivered on a career-long dream, opening her own gelateria in downtown St. Helena. Elisha parked her purple Vespa outside, and her team churns batches of seasonal flavors daily, sourcing local ingredients from California wine country.
Elisha invites locals and visitors to step into the escapist magic of Roman Holiday Gelato. Bon apetito!
