Chef Ann Kim's restaurant 'Kim's' opens along with closure of beloved 'Sooki and Mimi'

CATHY WURZER: Pretty exciting. It's the first weekend for Chef Ann Kim's newest venture. Her new restaurant is simply named Kim's. Kim's is replacing the beloved uptown restaurant Sooki and Mimi. It closed on October 21st. And just 2 and 1/2 weeks later, Kim's was born.

Chef Ann is, of course, known for her award-winning pizza at Young Joni, Pizzeria Lola, and Hello Pizza. But Kim's won't be a pizza parlor. It's Korean-American cuisine. Joining us right now to talk about Kim's is Ann Kim. Ann, I know you're busy. Say, congratulations.

ANN KIM: Thank you so much, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: Wow. You opened on Tuesday. How's it been going?

ANN KIM: It's been incredible. We opened on Tuesday with lines out the door, around the block. And we were full by the first half hour. And the same thing happened yesterday. And guests have been so incredibly excited, kind, gracious. And so far, the response has been just wonderful.

CATHY WURZER: This restaurant is deeply personal to you now it's open to the public. And I'm wondering, how does that feel to have something so close to your heart now available to everybody?

ANN KIM: Oh, man. It's like coming home for me. And a complete 180, having grown up as an immigrant. Our family immigrated to the United States in 1977. And I grew up in a small suburb where there were very few people that looked like me or ate the kind of food that was at our dinner table.

And to be able to be in this position-- when I was growing up, Korean cuisine to me was a source of shame and embarrassment. And now to be able to share it with the community, with the people of Minneapolis and the greater Twin Cities, is a really, really special place to be. And I named it Kim's because it is in honor of my family. And I want to make sure that it's a legacy that I can have that's around and maybe even longer than me. So I'm really grateful to be in this position.

CATHY WURZER: I know your mom and dad were there for opening night. I can only imagine just the smiles on their faces and just how excited that they are.

ANN KIM: Oh, man. Yeah, they were-- I think they were a little surprised. My dad asked on opening night if people were actually going to be paying for my food. Because he couldn't believe that so many people were in line and filled with anticipation to come eat here. And I said, yeah, Dad, they're paying tonight. They're paying.

So I think they're proud. They've had quite the journey. I've had quite the journey. And it makes me really proud that a cuisine that was once a source of great shame is now something that I'm so proud to share.

CATHY WURZER: And your first restaurant is fully Korean cuisine. So when I walk in, what am I going to experience?

ANN KIM: Yeah. So it's more Korean-American cuisine. And a lot of people have asked me, what does that mean? And I say it looks like and tastes like the kind of food that I grew up eating, the kind of food that represents my journey as a Korean immigrant growing up in Minnesota. And so I can't speak for all Korean-Americans, because everybody has a different experience. But this is uniquely personal because it is food that represents who I am. The kinds of foods that I love, the kinds of foods that I feel like the community will really embrace.

And so it's a mixture of the bold flavorful flavors of Korea and the kinds of foods that my mother and my maternal grandmother made for me growing up. But also a mix of things that I grew up growing up in Minnesota. And so you'll see some dishes that are very traditional, like my mother's recipe for kimchi and bindaetteok, which is a traditional mung bean pancake that she taught me at a very early age.

And then you'll see twists on things like Spam and cheese sandwich on a traditional hotdog style bun and rice cakes, which traditionally you might find with a spicy gochujang sauce. But instead, we decided to turn it into a playful play on mac and cheese. And it's been really fun to see people's reactions and embrace Korean cuisine.

I used to make excuses thinking that people of Minnesota weren't ready for this. And I think this is the restaurant I've been meant to open for all my life. And I was just afraid to do it. And so I made a bold decision and a scary one at that. And we turned around Sooki and Mimi. We closed the restaurant just a little over two weeks ago. And now we're Kim's.

CATHY WURZER: You could put Kim's in a new place and keep Sooki and Mimi. Why did you make that decision to close but open something new?

ANN KIM: I'm really committed to Uptown. It was actually the first neighborhood that I moved to when I came back from New York. I went to college in New York and lived there for several years. And Uptown was the first place that felt like it had the same kind of energy and diversity of New York City. And that's where I got my first apartment. And it always pulled me back. And so when I had the opportunity to open up Sooki and Mimi and be able to open up a restaurant in the former Lucia's, who was also a trailblazer, in my opinion, as a chef and restauranteur. I wanted to do something really special.

And unfortunately, we opened Sooki and Mimi in the middle of a pandemic. And it just was not the right timing. I'm really proud of Sooki and Mimi. But again, sometimes timing is everything. It just wasn't a time where people were able to go out and eat. And so instead of trying to reshape and reform what the restaurant was meant to be, because we had to be so many different things in the past 2 and 1/2 years, that I decided to change it.

But rather than leave this space, I decided I'm just going to transform it. And for me, if you know anything about my career, my whole life has been about transformation and change. And I thought that it would be an excellent opportunity to reset and transform Sooki and Mimi into something really special and beautiful and delicious. And I hope that this will inspire other like-minded businesses, restauranteurs, retailers, entrepreneurs, to also set roots here in Uptown.

Because we need it. And it's a wonderful neighborhood. It's a diverse neighborhood. And I hope that I'm igniting that flame and getting people excited about this corner of Minneapolis.

CATHY WURZER: Say, I'm glad you brought up your touchstone, if that's the right word to use. When I think of you, I think of transformation. And in this restaurant-- and I have to see it-- I know there's a beautiful mural that was created for Kim's which reflects the concept of transformation. Can you talk about that?

ANN KIM: Yes, of course. Several months ago, I really wanted to put some artwork on the side of our building. And I wasn't quite sure. I put a call out to artists, and we were fortunate enough to receive a grant by the Lake Street Council. They had a grant to help create some artwork down Lake Street. And that helped support this mural that we commissioned.

The artist, her name is Julia Chun. She lives in the Washington DC area. And she's also Korean-American. And I asked her to create some art that reflected transformation, change, beauty, strength, and passion. And I also told her that I wanted it to incorporate the Korean heritage. And I didn't really give her much more than that.

And she created this incredible piece of work that's awe inspiring. It's two stories. It's her largest work to date. She did it all completely free form. And there's a lot of meaning in it. There is a dragon and a phoenix, which represent different parts of Korean feng shui. And it's all about north-south-east-west in the center and how all things in Korean feng shui come back to the center.

And at the center is a woman in a Korean hanbok. And she is the representation of passion and fire. And the dragon and the phoenix represent transfer creation and change and wisdom. And they're guardians of the flame and protecting all those that are around us and transmitting powerful, strong, empowered energy. So I hope that spreads throughout our community and to anybody who needs that.

CATHY WURZER: What a powerful image. Oh my goodness, it is perfect. It's perfect for you and the restaurant. Say, before we go, when folks visit-- just had a few days right now. But have you discovered maybe a dish that seems to be a fan favorite so far?

ANN KIM: Yes. Quite a few. But right now, our number one seller is the stone bowl bibimbap. That is something that people have been loving. And it's been giving our kitchen quite the workout. Because if you've ever had this dish, it's a rice dish with various different marinated raw pickled fermented vegetables, bulgogi beef, and a sunny side up egg. But the special part of this dish comes in a sizzling stone bowl that's both very heavy and very hot. And it comes to your table sizzling and it has a crispy edge on the bottom and people have been really loving that dish.

CATHY WURZER: Oh, sounds fantastic. Ann, I wish you all the very best. Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to talk to us.

ANN KIM: Oh, thank you for having me on. It's been a pleasure. And I hope to see all of you at Kim's soon.

CATHY WURZER: Absolutely. That's Chef Ann Kim, the owner of Kim's, which just opened in Uptown this week.