The Recipes Stayed at Toni's. Now Comes Its First Holiday Rush Under New Owners.

Twenty-five years ago, Craig Zoberis and his wife, Tracy, had a white chocolate mousse wedding cake from Toni's Patisserie & Café. This fall, Toni Cox made the top tier again for an early anniversary celebration. The Hinsdalean reported that this time Zoberis had also become one of the bakery's three new owners.

Earlier this year, Zoberis and two other Hinsdale residents, Mark Konieczka and Tom Wake, bought the bakery at 51 S. Washington St. from Cox and her husband, Paul Pell. The couple opened it 32 years ago. Most of what the buyers paid for is supposed to stay the same. The new owners will be tested in the next six weeks, because those weeks bring both the bakery's busiest stretch and Hinsdale's biggest downtown holiday night.

What Changed Hands and What Didn't

Cox's recipes were part of the deal. In The Hinsdalean's account, customers' favorites will stay on the menu and will still be made the way Cox makes them. She described the recipe collection this way:

"Everything from hand-written to typed up to in the computer system. Everybody who has been involved with the recipes has touched them in some way, and there are some stains on them to show they have been very well used, kind of like an old cookbook. It's a bit like passing down your grandmother's recipes."

The staff stayed too. Cox is staying on for the transition, and Steven Rennau will keep his job as director of operations. The three owners come from other fields. Wake worked in wholesale distribution, Konieczka worked in commercial real estate, and Wake calls Zoberis "a serial entrepreneur and engineer." Konieczka's wife, Stephanie, trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. About 10 years ago, the couple thought about opening a cupcake shop in Hinsdale.

Zoberis told the paper he first saw the listing in November. A broker named Eatz was selling an unnamed food business, and he recognized it from the description. A different buyer was already talking with Cox, but that deal fell apart in the first week of January, and the broker called Zoberis. He joked that at first the partners would have liked to keep the purchase quiet. "We want them to think Toni is back there somewhere," he said.

The owners described the holiday season as the next big job, and Cox explained why. "The fourth quarter is always a huge thing for us and a lot of work," she told The Hinsdalean. "We have to be in a position where we are prepared."

The October 6 Vote Changed the Hours, Not the Pastry Case

The first change you can actually see came from Village Hall, not the kitchen. A liquor license can't be transferred to a new owner, Patch explained, so Toni's had no license for a while after the sale. Under its old owners, Toni's had a beer and wine license. The new owners applied for one that also covers spirits.

On Tuesday, October 6, the Village Board voted 6–0 to give Toni's a Class B4 and a Class B6 license, the Hinsdale Journal reported. Here is how the old license compares with the new ones:

According to a village memo cited by Patch, the owners don't plan to serve alcohol during the early breakfast hours, and they intend to add dinner service. Konieczka dropped a hint before the vote. "Perhaps there are bloody Marys in the future," he told The Hinsdalean.

The Thanksgiving Window Opens Tomorrow

Toni's printed 2026 Thanksgiving menu gives the timing. Preorders open on 11/13, which is tomorrow, Friday. The order deadline is Saturday 11/21. That gives you nine days to order, starting tomorrow. The menu is made up of the long-standing desserts the sale was meant to protect:

The menu calls the rum raisin bread pudding "Our Famous bread pudding" and says it "is back." For Friendsgiving gatherings, a European pastry tray costs $92, $138 or $184 for 30, 45 or 60 pieces. A square and cookie tray comes in the same three sizes for $62, $94 or $124. Orders go through tonipatisserie.com or by phone at (630) 789-2020.

December Puts Downtown Hinsdale's Big Holiday Night on the Calendar

The Thanksgiving deadline is only the start of the season. The next six weeks are packed:

1. Sunday, November 29: Holiday Express. The village runs a train trip from Hinsdale to the Two Brothers Roundhouse with holiday guests, a meal and activities. Tickets are $55, and the trip is open to Hinsdale residents only. Departures are at 9 a.m., 10 a.m., noon and 1 p.m., and times may shift with the Metra schedule.
2. Friday, December 4: the 60th annual Christmas Walk. The Hinsdale Chamber of Commerce runs it from 5 to 7 p.m. in downtown Hinsdale and Burlington Park.
3. Sunday, December 6: Winter Wonderland. The event runs 9 a.m. to noon at Katherine Legge Memorial Park, 5901 S. County Line Road. It costs $20 for residents and $25 for nonresidents, and everyone attending, parents included, has to preregister. Santa and Mrs. Claus, the Frozen characters, crafts and reindeer are all on the schedule.
4. Saturday, December 12: Hinsdale for the Holidays. This free event runs 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Burlington Park, with gingerbread cookie decorating, horse-drawn carriage rides and Santa. Santa's Workshop in the park is open the same hours.
5. Saturday, December 19: Santa's last Saturday. The Workshop in Burlington Park is open again from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

On the Chamber's guest schedule, the Christmas Walk starts at 5 p.m. with Santa's arrival and the tree lighting at Memorial Hall. Downtown business visits, Santa visits, carousel rides and train rides all run from 5 to 7 p.m. The Chamber also offers businesses 10-by-10-foot booth spaces on Washington Street for holiday crafts, giveaways and activities. That puts much of the evening on the street where Toni's has been for 32 years. The Chamber lists the Upper and Lower Washington St lot and the Village Lot, between Lincoln and Washington north of the tracks, on the same page.

The Walk has a long history. The Hinsdalean covered it as the 54th annual in 2019 and the 56th in 2022. The Chamber's sponsor page thanks local businesses "for keeping this long standing Holiday tradition alive and well." The village's 2026 event calendar runs Small Business Season from November 1 through December 24, so the Walk falls about halfway through.

Why the Sale Matters Most in December

The sale was set up to keep Toni's running the way it has. The new owners have been longtime customers, and a 25-year-old wedding cake proves it. The founder's recipes came with the bakery, and the founder and her operations director are still there. The visible changes so far are a broader liquor license and plans for dinner service. Cox said what she sees in the buyers. "The fact that they have been patrons of ours for so long and that they love this business is amazing," she told The Hinsdalean. "Obviously that attention and care is going to follow through."

Whether that care carries through will show in the pie orders between November 13 and 21, and again on December 4, when the Christmas Walk fills Washington Street on its 60th year.

Downtown Hinsdale's long-running businesses and its 60th Christmas Walk are part of what makes the village feel like home, and we're glad to see both carry on. If you've wondered what a home near Washington Street and Burlington Park is worth this season, Wardlow Group will give you a free home valuation or show you off-market listings close to downtown.