The California culinary community is facing a tragic loss, as one of its rising stars, Gianna Isabella Buzzetta, has died in a hiking accident in Hawaii. The 26-year-old, an executive pastry chef at the Michelin-starred Jeune et Jolie restaurant in Carlsbad, suffered a fatal injury when she was struck by a falling rock while visiting the Makaleha Falls trail on Kauai with her boyfriend last Sunday, according to reports by NBC San Diego and 10News.
Buzzetta’s boyfriend, having to run three miles to find assistance, highlighted the remoteness of the area where the incident happened. She was airlifted to a local hospital and subsequently pronounced dead last Monday. “They’re just so full of love and light and all of the support they’re getting, they’re just so grateful,” family friend Carlye Wund said when organizing a fundraiser to support Buzzetta’s family, as stated in an interview with NBC San Diego. Jeune et Jolie has since paid tribute to Buzzetta, honoring the joy and love she added to the restaurant, and announced a fundraiser with all proceeds benefitting her family.
The Oceanside-born chef was on vacation in Hawaii, fulfilling a dream to see the waterfall that she considered the best of her life. “She had told her boyfriend, Connor, that day, he had fulfilled her dreams and it was the best day of her life,” Buzzetta’s mother, Caty, recounted in a statement obtained by 10News. Her parents arrived in time to say their goodbyes and find some solace in the fact that she passed away surrounded by the natural beauty she loved…