Melissa Funk Weller is a game-changer. First, she elevated the cinnamon bun, anointed in 2015 as the “Dish of the Year” by The New York Times. She then reimagined the bagel, named among “The Best Bagels in America” by Food & Wine magazine.
Now, she turns her attention to cookies. Channeling previous triumphs with the rolling pin, Melissa’s Funk Foods Bakery is out to deliver an inventive assortment of flavors that will prove a catalyst for a new appreciation for gourmet baked treats.
Each month these flavors will change, allowing customers to join Melissa on a delicious journey influenced by traditions, and elevated through a relentless quest to identify the best methods for the best and tastiest results. It should be quite a ride.
Melissa is a master baker whose work has received critical acclaim. She received a James Beard Award nomination for Outstanding Baker in 2016. Her path to success reads like a round-up of New York’s most celebrated restaurants and bakeries.
A French Culinary Institute graduate, she trained at Babbo and Sullivan Street Bakery in New York City. She was chef-partner at High Street on Hudson; head baker at Per Se, Bouchon Bakery, and Roberta’s; an owner and founder of Sadelle’s; and the head baker at Walnut Street Café in Philadelphia.
Melissa was born and raised in Central Pennsylvania, and has lived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York for over 15 years. She graduated from Bucknell University with degrees in chemical engineering and international relations and worked as an engineer for ten years before switching her career to baking.
Her first cookbook, A Good Bake, published by Knopf, debuted in November 2020.
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