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It’s currently a one-woman show at ONKI Bakery, a new business that popped up at the Redwood City Kiwanis Farmers Market last month.
Created by Redwood City resident Gahee Lee, who worked in high-end French cuisine in South Korea and China, ONKI Bakery fuses Asian flavors with classic French pastry techniques. The name means “warmth” in Korean, representing the love and comfort Lee aims to bake into each pastry.
“My goal is simple right now,” she said. “I want to give really good product(s) with good ingredient(s) … to (the) neighborhood, because I tr(y) to make things (the) same quality as I offer to my family.”
Working out of a commercial kitchen in Menlo Park, Lee specializes in breads and sweet and savory viennoiseries. Find French classics like baguettes and croissants made with Isigny Sainte-Mère butter and Valrhona chocolate, as well as Asian favorites like soft, pillowy milk bread, crispy shio pan (Japanese sea salt butter rolls), black sesame chocolate croissants and matcha latte cookies. Seasonal pastries include savory Danishes with Parmigiano béchamel, sauteed shiitake mushrooms and prosciutto.
“I like our ham and cheese croissant because I put béchamel sauce in it to give, like, thick and rich, creamy, cheesy flavor,” Lee said.
While Lee always had an interest in culinary, she didn’t always work in the field. She graduated college with a degree in economics, working in finance until her late 20s. Following her longtime passion, she attended culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu in Seoul, South Korea, transferring and completing her culinary education at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France. She worked at a French restaurant in Korea, then went on to work at a five star hotel in China as a chef de partie.
In 2022, her husband’s software engineering job brought them to Redwood City. After having her daughter, she realized that the hours demanded of a chef would be too taxing to balance with motherhood, so she decided to work in pastry. She worked for Saltwater Bakeshop in San Mateo for over four years before deciding to open her own business.
“I wanted to bake something unique with my idea as an Asian, using some Asian ingredients, that I wanted to create my own recipe and my own bread and pastry,” Lee said.
Now, she’s selling her breads and pastries on Saturdays at the Redwood City Kiwanis Farmers Market, which closes at the end of the month. She said she plans to look for another market to set up shop and plans to offer pickup orders as well as corporate group orders and catering. In the future, she’d love to have a brick and mortar of her own.
ONKI Bakery, 104 Gilbert Ave., Menlo Park; Instagram: @onkibakery. Available to buy at the Redwood City Kiwanis Farmers Market, located at 500 Arguello St., Redwood City, from April to November on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
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