Connie Weis

Connie Weis believes that while studying at a culinary school certainly provides excellent preparation and background for a career in the food industry, she believes that only those with true passion combined with creativity will distinguish themselves as food innovators.

Connie began her own culinary career in the 1980’s selling desserts to restaurants, while keeping her foot in the dental field. Her love of all things "food" eventually led to a job in the specialty food business as the Merchandise Manager/Buyer for the TASTE stores in southern Virginia.

After nine years, Connie moved on to become Executive Pastry Chef (Todd Jurich’s Bistro, Zinc Brasserie), Director of Food Development for the Baker’s Crust chain of restaurants, and Restaurant Consultant for Artisan Market & Café in Wilmington, NC. She has served as Food Editor for Port Folio Weekly magazine, and is often asked to help out as a judge in local cooking contests as well as the Virginia State Fair.

She has competed in a few contests herself, and has been a finalist in the 2,000 Pillsbury Bake-Off, the Grand Prize winner (of a kitchen makeover) in the 2003 Harris Teeter Rancher Beef Cooking Contest, and the Philadelphia Cream Cheese Brand Winner in the 2007 Southern Living Cook-Off.

She has been an executive pastry chef, director of food development, restaurant consultant, food editor, and has appeared on the TODAY show with Kathie Lee and Hoda as well as Good Morning Washington to do live cooking segments with her brownies.

In 2017 she was selected by Chef Todd Jurich to do the dessert course for Todd Jurich's Bistro 25th Anniversary Alumni Dinner on October 5, 2017, featuring past chefs who have worked for Chef Jurich; including Graham Elliott (former judge on Top Chef), Sam McGann, Harper Bradshaw, and Pete Evans.

In 2020 Connie was hired as Creative Consultant to the TASTE Family of Businesses to create a line of desserts. If you stop in any of the nine TASTE stores, you can try some of her creations, which does indeed include several brownies!

Locations — TASTE (www.tasteunlimited.com/locations)

Connie has retired from her baking business called "Brownies & S'More" to devote more time to her hobbies, which besides baking, cooking (yes folks, she cooks "real" food), tennis and biking.

A major interest in both Connie and her husband Don's life is organic gardening, with the plants started in their greenhouse fed by eggshell (from brownies) enriched compost.

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, she now resides in Virginia Beach, Virginia, with her husband Don.