New Restaurant, Coming Soon: The SOS Counter from Sourdoughs of Somerset in Brentwood, TN
The remarkable team of Michaella and Ryder Zetts, a culinary couple with decades of experience between them, turned a Covid-era home-based baking business into The Sourdoughs of Somerset, a beloved Brentwood, Tennessee staple. This Fall, that community comfort welcomes its first brick-and-mortar restaurant, The SOS Counter.
Building Sourdoughs of Somerset: A Brentwood Favorite
The Zetts met at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park and spent their professional careers working in Michelin-starred restaurants. Michaella spent a decade at establishments like the world-famous French Laundry, and Ryder served as executive chef of both Archetype and Solage Calistoga restaurants in Napa Valley.
The couple moved to the Nashville area in 2019 when Ryder took a job as executive chef for The Optimist, a Ford Fry restaurant. Ryder found he needed a baker for his restaurant, so Michaella offered to take on the task. Although The Optimist ultimately went with a different baker, Michaella was undeterred. She created a Facebook group called "Sourdoughs of Somerset" to start selling her bread and shared that group with three friends. The group quickly exploded, and what started as a few loaves a week became a full-time job, with Michaella baking 400 to 500 loaves of sourdough a week.
While the pandemic raged on and The Optimist stayed closed, the business exploded when Ryder started preparing “Kitchen Table Offerings" (KTOs), full dinner kits designed for at-home restaurant experiences. The dinner kits are meant to serve a party of 4, but because of the generous portions, easily fed a family of six. Each kit included an entrée, salads, sides, a dessert, and of course, choice of bread.
These meal kits were a welcome delight for all of those families trapped at home and looking for a delicious meal. Post-covid, the business kept growing, and Ryder became a permanent part of the Sourdoughs of Somerset team. Over the last few years, Sourdoughs of Somerset has become much more than a place to buy food; it's a community treasure and a Godsend for busy families.
A Personal Peek: The Zett Family Kitchen
For someone lucky enough to call Michaella and Ryder friends, I am delighted to admit that I have been treated to some experiences beyond the delicious weekly KTOs. I’ve had some of the best meals of my life in the Zetts’ kitchen. Some favorite dishes include caviar on potato blini, linguine with clams, lamb chops, melon with kalamata, tomato salad, and fried garden eggplant with umami dip. I’ve been fortunate enough to enjoy meals at some of the world’s top restaurants, and the food created in Michaella and Ryder’s kitchen rivals any of those.
Their homegrown business model has fostered a strong sense of community in a time when people felt very disconnected. And, along the way, the couple has collaborated with other local vendors – mostly women with home-based businesses - to offer a variety of products. Because of their openness to support other creators, Sourdoughs of Somerset’s weekly offerings include homemade jams and jellies, baked goods, laminated pastries, candles, charcuterie boards, and even New York-style bagels.
Opening The SOS Counter in Brentwood
As for the future of Sourdoughs of Somerset, the operation has outgrown the Zetts’ home kitchen and is expanding into a brick-and-mortar location called SOS Counter in Fall 2025. The new fast-casual restaurant, a collaboration with pastry chef Jessica Chow, will offer their famous sourdough breads, soups, salads, pastries, and family-sized take-home meals.
The Zetts plan to keep their successful pick-up model, but in this new, more permanent location, they can serve even more citizens and expand their community. SOS Counter will be located at 701 Cool Springs Boulevard. The whole community is rooting for the success of the Zetts family, and we cannot wait to see what they can accomplish in their expanded space. I’m personally hoping for more invitations to dine in the chefs’ kitchen.