Tasty pandemic hobby-turned-business now is getting its own storefront by Revolutsia

A popular pandemic pastime for many has been nursing sourdough starters and baking bread, but not that many people consequently decided to make a business out of it.

That’s what Zach McGhee is doing in partnership with his wife, Kinta, who already had a cake-baking business.

“Together we realized we could really grow this into something — and probably more than just cakes,” Zach McGhee said.

The two, who each have more than 20 years of experience in the food and beverage industry, combined forces in 2019 to start PeeWee & Sweet’s Bakehouse to sell through farmers markets, pop-ups and, more recently, bread subscriptions.

Now, they’re opening their first store in what’s known as the pink building at Central and Volutsia across from Revolutsia.

The McGhees intend for it to be a mostly grab-and-go business, and that’s part of why they located by Revolutsia. They want to encourage people to take their sandwiches, salads, pastries and bread across the street to Revolutsia’s courtyard to eat, though they will have a few high-top chairs in their front window for people to sit.

Everything is based on sourdough.

“It’s our flavor profile,” Kinta McGhee said.

“Zach was one of those people that started making sourdough, and he just didn’t stop.”

She said he bought a sourdough cookbook and worked his way through the entire thing.

“It takes a lot of time and effort to keep a sourdough starter alive and happy.”

By the time he’d completed the book, she said, it was “just kind of a light bulb moment for us.”

“We realized, like, wow, we could really do something with this.”

Part of keeping a sourdough starter alive is removing some of it before feeding it, and the McGhees began using those discards in their cakes and pastries.

With the new space, which will open in the middle of July, the McGhees will be able to do wholesale business, and they hope to work with like-minded businesses and grow with them.

The couple has two children, and Kinta McGhee said going into business for themselves is about “wanting to be able to take more control of your own life” and create a better work-life balance.

They named the business after her grandparents and the pet names they had for each other.

Kinta McGhee’s grandmother was born on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, and the McGhees take a lot of their baking inspiration from that food culture. They make muffulettas and king cakes, too.

Though the McGhees have had their own full-time business for a couple of years now, Kinta McGhee said it took working with business consultant Jaimie Garnett, who used to be with the Greater Wichita Partnership, to realized their long-term goal of opening their own storefront.

“She’s just been a life-changer,” McGhee said. “I don’t think we could have done it without her.”