BEHIND THE BREAD

Meet the Bread Lady Behind Seaside Sourdough

Seaside Sourdough is a small home bakery in Ormond by the Sea serving fresh sourdough bread, bagels, focaccia, cinnamon buns, and other weekly favorites to customers throughout Ormond Beach.

Hi, I’m Liz.

I am the baker, mixer, bagger, label sticker, flour sweeper, text sender, and occasional person standing in the kitchen wondering where I put my bench scraper.

Seaside Sourdough started because I wanted our local community to have access to really good fresh bread without relying on whatever happened to be sitting on a grocery store shelf.

I live and bake in Ormond by the Sea, but Seaside Sourdough is for all of Ormond Beach and anyone nearby who believes fresh bread is worth a short drive.

There is no storefront, no glass pastry case, and no commercial bakery monster hiding behind the curtain. It is me, a lot of flour, several ovens, a weekly production schedule, and a porch pickup cabinet that has become a surprisingly important member of the family.

How Seaside Sourdough Began

Like many sourdough stories, this one began with a starter and a reasonable belief that making bread at home would be relaxing.

That belief was adorable.

Over time, the occasional loaf became more loaves. Then came bagels, focaccia, sandwich bread, cinnamon buns, pizza crusts, and neighbors asking when they could order again.

Seaside Sourdough slowly grew into a weekly bread drop, with customers ordering online and picking up freshly baked goods from my home bakery in Ormond by the Sea.

I did not start this business because I wanted to become a giant commercial bakery. I started it because I love making good food for real people in my own community.

I wanted customers to know who made their bread, where it came from, and that it was baked nearby by someone who probably has flour on her leggings.

What Makes Seaside Sourdough Different

Every product is made in small batches and baked fresh for the weekly pickup schedule.

The dough is long fermented to develop flavor and texture. The ingredients are simple and recognizable. The menu stays focused so I can make each product well without stretching production beyond what one home baker should reasonably attempt.

Around here, more is not always better.

A smaller menu means the bread stays fresh, ordering stays simple, and I can keep making the products customers actually come back for.

Bagels and classic sourdough boules are two of the biggest neighborhood favorites. Focaccia, cinnamon buns, sandwich loaves, pizza crusts, and seasonal specials rotate through the menu depending on the week and how ambitious I felt when planning it.

A Neighborhood Bakery Without the Storefront

Seaside Sourdough works through weekly bread drops rather than traditional store hours.

Orders usually open on Sunday and close Wednesday at noon, or earlier when everything sells out.

Customers choose a Friday evening or Saturday morning pickup time, then collect their labeled order from the self serve porch cabinet in Ormond by the Sea.

No waiting in line. No showing up and hoping there is still a loaf left. No awkwardly peering into a dark bakery window.

You order ahead, I bake your bread, and it waits for you at pickup.

Hotplate recommends consistent ordering schedules because they make it easier for customers to remember when and how to buy from local food businesses. That weekly rhythm is a big part of how Seaside Sourdough works. :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}

Why Text Alerts Matter

Seaside Sourdough is intentionally small batch, which means some products sell out before orders officially close.

Text subscribers are the first people notified when the weekly menu opens, so signing up is the easiest way to avoid hearing about the cinnamon buns after someone else already bought them.

Hotplate identifies the text subscriber list as one of the strongest predictors of weekly sales because subscribers receive a direct order link every time a new drop opens. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}

Translation: social media is lovely, but Instagram may decide to show you a reel three days later when the bagels are already gone.

Text alerts are faster.

More Than Bread

The best part of Seaside Sourdough is not just the bread.

It is seeing familiar names come through each week. It is hearing that someone’s children finished the cinnamon buns before breakfast. It is having neighbors vote on future menu items. It is knowing that people are choosing to support a local home bakery instead of automatically adding another loaf to the grocery cart.

I love that Seaside Sourdough has become part of people’s weekly routines.

Fresh bagels for Saturday morning. A boule with soup. Focaccia for dinner. Cinnamon buns hidden in the back of the refrigerator so nobody else finds them.

Very wholesome. Slightly territorial.

Follow Along From the Kitchen

Social media is where I share the weekly menu, behind the scenes baking, sellout updates, pickup reminders, product photos, and whatever mild bread related chaos is happening in the kitchen.

Hotplate recommends using social media to show the person behind the business, explain how ordering works, and remind customers when weekly drops open or sell out. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}

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