Flour Your Dreams Bakery

As hard as it is to fathom launching a business in the throes of a global pandemic, imagine opening a bakery when there is no yeast to be found...anywhere. Such was the situation in April and such was the reason Danny Greenberg and Tania Salas Platt made sourdough. Naturally.

The husband and wife duo behind Flour Your Dreams Bakery arrived in Nashville four and a half years ago following Danny’s corporate transfer from Los Angeles. Danny’s outlet was always baking. Following a ten to twelve-hour day, he could always find revival at the bottom of a five-pound sack of flour and restoration in the treat it would become. So, it was only natural when the month of April brought layoffs, they sought solace in the kitchen.

At first, they shared their bread at front lawn happy hours with neighbors, desperate for human contact amidst the pandemic. Danny’s first shared loaves were tangy sourdough boules, reminiscent of San Francisco and born out of yeast scarcity. Scones followed, then cookies, (not to mention cheesecake) and with them a cult following in the Donelson area.

The baked goods led to a bread club (and fan club) in the neighborhood followed by a doubling in production and a booth at Hip Donelson Farmers Market. They were official.

Danny’s bread baking gradually morphed from sourdough into French bâtards and challah, a Jewish egg bread. Tania developed recipes for scones reminiscent of her half decade living in the UK. Their childhoods and vivid memories of home and travel became infused into each selection. Tania’s ginger molasses cookies are tawny hued with a warm, sweet flavor- a direct manifestation of an early memory of her watching her mom bake the same type of cookies while bathed in the golden light of the afternoon sun. Danny’s rendition of challah bread pays homage to his grandmother, a revered baker in his family’s lineage.

Another ingredient to their success is, quite literally, the ingredients they use (like the finest non-GMO flour) and don’t use (preservatives or additives).

Flour Your Dreams Bakery could not have been shaped without the community that fostered its rise. Without two different neighbors - one with a truck and one with a trailer - and another host of neighbors to provide manpower, Danny and Tania would not have so easily moved a commercial oven into their garage to support their 150+ loaf per week demand.

The takeaways of Danny and Tania’s story are plentiful and multifaceted. Worked into their story is the power of community, the unifying love language that is food, and the prominence of childhood experiences. Let Danny and Tania’s narrative impart you with two pieces of wisdom: when life gives you no yeast, make sourdough and go forth and flour your dreams.