Meet Vivian Gama | Owner & Baker of Hueneme Bakehouse

We had the good fortune of connecting with Vivian Gama and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Vivian, every day, we about how much execution matters, but we think ideas matter as well. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
My husband’s favorite snack is toasted sourdough bread with butter. We used to buy the regular sourdough breads that are in the supermarket. One day he said, “We need to stop buying this bread because I’m eating too much of it.” I then suggested that we try baking our own sourdough. “How hard could it be?!” I said. I figured if we baked our own, we’d have less bread in the house. I had no idea what was in store for us. I went online to look up a decent sourdough recipe and tried to make my very own sourdough starter.

I attempted my first loaf of bread in October 2019. It wasn’t pretty. My mother-in-law was nice and insisted that if we microwaved the loaf for 2 minutes it was okay. I don’t think bread should ever need to be microwaved!! I put the bread out on the patio table and even the birds didn’t want it.

My first go to was Pinterest since I usually find some pretty decent recipes there. What I quickly discovered was that everyone likes to title their recipe “the best sourdough bread.” There were too many tips and tricks online and none of which had helped me bake a decent loaf. After 3 weeks of pulling stumps out of the oven I was fed up! I decided that I needed to go back to basics and get a good old fashioned bread book. I got the Tartine Bread book by Chad Robertson. I had a feeling that if I stuck to one recipe over and over, I’d eventually get a decent loaf. This book is AMAZING! I became obsessed with sourdough.

Once I got the hang of it–I couldn’t get enough! I baked a loaf every weekend and gave to friends and family. The more pictures I posted on Facebook and Instagram the more and more people wanted to bread! Pretty soon I was baking 8 loaves on the weekends. I started trading my breads with friends for fruits and veggies or freshly caught fish. It was then that we decided to officially start Hueneme Bakehouse. We became licensed through the County of Ventura in July 2020. Fast forward to October 2022, almost 3 years since that first loaf of bread, and we’ve been voted the 3rd Best Bakery in Ventura County by the VC Star’s Community Choice Awards! I started baking bread to “have less bread in the house” and it turned out that the exact opposite thing happened.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
When I first started baking bread I was a preschool teacher in Malibu, Ca. I would work during the week and would bake on the weekends. Once we launched Hueneme Bakehouse, I would work M-Th and bake Friday, Saturday &Sunday. After 9 months of working almost every day I decided to step back from teaching and focus entirely on baking.

I am not a professionally trained baker and have never been to culinary school. I’ve learned everything strictly from reading bread books, listening to podcasts, and trial and error. Because I’m not professionally trained, I’m constantly learning and figuring things out. I’ve made lots of mistakes and, to be frank, I will continue making lots of mistakes. Sometimes you have to laugh it off–even if it stings a bit.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We live in one of the most beautiful regions in Southern California. There’s so much to do around here! I love hanging out by the water so we’d probably hit up one of the local harbors for lunch or dinner. Brophy Bros in Ventura is one of our favorite places for a good sea food and a nice martini. Renting a little boat on the harbor is pretty fun too! On Saturday mornings we have Hueneme Beach Clean Up. It’s a nice chance to enjoy the wildlife, walk along the beach, and give back to the community. If the season is right, you have to go whale watching!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’ve got to give a shout out to my husband Steven. He was literally the reason why I started baking bread in the first place and has been 100% supportive the entire time. He’s been up with me during those late nights mixing dough. He wakes up early to help slice bread. He even does all my deliveries. I often refer to him as the best delivery boy ever! All jokes aside, he’s been my rock throughout this whole time. There are times where mistakes are made and the dough flops. He’s always there with encouragement and maybe even a little tough love.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/huenemebakehouse/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/huenemebakehouse

Other: We don’t have a website. We run solely on Facebook and Instagram