By Kalyxa Roman

Walk up to a plum-colored house, just steps away from Golden Gate Park and you will find fresh sourdough bread stacked neatly on a white rack on the stoop, waiting to be bought. Here is where Inna Pak, a Richmond resident and full-time mom, operates her new microbakery, Plum Perfect.

Pak began selling her homemade sourdough bread in May and hosts a pop-up every Saturday morning, in addition to fulfilling online orders.

Pak, who is originally from the Republic of Crimea, moved to San Francisco nearly 12 years ago, and took up baking as a hobby, health practice and way to build community. She has a background in marketing, social media and graphic design, and is now a stay-at-home mom for her two-year-old son.

In her home, the only signs of a two-year-old were the few toys in the living room. Her house is filled with dark wood and her kitchen, where she makes all her bread, is bright and clean – white tiles and light wood cabinetry.

Five years ago, Pak launched a YouTube channel called Home Cafe Blog, where she posted baking and cooking tutorials. She focused mostly on baking pastries, but began baking bread when she was given a sourdough starter from a friend.

“I tried conventional yeast before, and it never worked for me. Once I tried using that starter, and I actually received a good loaf of bread, I was so excited. I love it much more than cakes,” Pak said.

Pak began dedicating more time to baking bread after discovering how much her son loved it.

“He ate a lot of bread, and I wanted him to eat actually nutritious loaf with good ingredients … so I started milling my own flour to make things better,” Pak said.

Pak felt better about feeding her kid bread that had ingredients she was familiar with, baked in an environment she could control.

She also felt that making videos about baking was not having much of a tangible impact, so she started delivering loaves to her neighbors. They were so good that one of them suggested she start selling them.

To learn how to turn her hobby into a business, Pak turned to artificial intelligence.

“When I was doing my license, I don’t think I could actually do it without the A.I. help,” she said.

Pak said she used Gemini to help her with everything from how to create labels for her loaves, to ingredient measurements and baking schedules, and even for her bakery’s name, Plum Perfect.

The operation is a small one – Pak sells anywhere from 10 to 20 loaves per week – but growth is definitely on her mind.

It would be a dream for Plum Perfect to become a brick-and-mortar bakery, Pak said, so that more people can have access to high-quality bread. She has her eye on an empty building nearby. But for now, she is happy to serve her neighbors.

“I actually feel more connected to society, and I feel like I do something important,” Pak said. “For example, with my online marketing office job, you want to deliver something your manager likes. That’s something that brings more money to some company. And it didn’t feel personal. … With bread, I feel like that’s something I enjoy, even if it’s small, but I feel useful to society.”

Pak’s sourdough loaves are sold on Saturday mornings from 9 to 10 a.m. at 735 10th Ave., or can be ordered for pickup via Square, or by contacting Pak directly at 415-650-8028.