MEET THE TEAM

  • ABBEY - SHE/HER

    OWNER / A LIL OF EVERYTHING

    Abbey loves to set the bar low enough so that life can continue to surprise and delight her. Her favorite things are saying “fuck it, why not?"“, buying/driving/riding old junk (cars, motorcycles), and being stupid (positive) online and in real life. She takes very few things seriously, but cares deeply about her community, the people and animals in her life, and making sure everyone feels like they have a seat at the table.

  • BRIGIT - SHE/HER

    BARISTA

    Brigit is extremely mysterious.

  • JESSEE - SHE/HER

    BARISTA

    Jessee is a line-dancing, latte-making, non-gun-toting Appalachian who is thrilled to be part of the Marty’s team. She cannot wait to meet you, put some extra care into your coffee, and compliment your outfit. Above all, she wants you to know: she CAN keep a secret, especially the juicy ones.

MATRYOSHKA ORIGIN STORY

Click here to learn how to pronounce “matryoshka”.
Spoiler: there are many ways that folks pronounce it, and the “correct” way is using vocaloids found in the Russian language, but honestly we are bad at speaking Russian.

Matryoshka was founded on two major principles: good coffee can be fun, and joy is something everyone deserves.

In early 2020, Matryoshka owner Abbey Chiavario purchased a small, 960-square foot unit in a small complex within an unassuming industrial park on Nashville’s south side with her husband Jake.

The space was originally slated to become the home base for Technico, Jake’s coffee technician business. On a walk early in the pandemic, Abbey offhandedly mentioned the idea of opening a coffee shop in the front third of the unit. Thus Matryoshka, the shop within the shop (like its nesting doll namesake), was born.

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Heavily inspired by the book Joyful by Ingrid Fetell Lee — a book about how aesthetics in our environments can create tangible joy — and heavy on DIY, Abbey set out to build out Matryoshka herself with the help of YouTube and online tutorials. She quit her long-term nannying job in August of 2021, and spent the latter half of the year documenting the process online for others to follow along. After four long months, Matryoshka officially opened its doors on December 7, 2021.

Since then, Matryoshka has become a world of its own. Technico moved out in October of 2024, which led to the takeover and expansion of the entire space — what you now see when you walk through the front door. While we miss the intimacy of being able to talk to every person in the cafe, we feel lucky for the extra breathing room and the extra space to let more folks in.

Through the years, Matryoshka has been able to make a name as the home base for a strong community, silly drinks, and somewhere that squashes pretension, and we look forward to ways to continue that in our future.

Matryoshka is queer-owned and a dedicated safe space for our LGBTQIA+ community and other minority groups and we intend to do all we can to ensure we stay that way.