Metro Detroit native Anna Ansari comes to dinner at Miss Kim

In the spirit of what I wrote up top, Iran has also been in the news in tragic and terrible ways over recent weeks. My heart goes out to everyone in Ann Arbor with friends and relatives there who have been cut off without internet for days. And also to the demonstrators in Iran who had the courage to risk everything to stand up for democracy.

At the same time, the magic of millennia of remarkably rich culture and cooking continues on as it has for years. The evening of Tuesday, February 3, here in the relative safety of Washtenaw County, there’s a chance to enjoy this special meal as Anna Ansari brings the foods of her Iranian American heritage and her years of deep study of the cooking and culture of the various countries of Central Asia, Iran included, to Miss Kim to cook from her new book, Silk Roads: A Flavor Odyssey with Recipes from Baku to Beijing. Kristen Yee, writing in the October issue of the Asian Review of Books, compared Anna’s extensive research and flowing prose to the work of the great Paula Wolfert. Of the book, food writer Adeena Sussman says, “Packed with history, humor, and delicious food, this travelogue-memoir-cookbook checks every box.”

We did a great book event with Anna at the Roadhouse back in October, and honestly, it’s almost worth coming to the evening at Miss Kim just to hear her amazing life story alone. She was raised here in Metro Detroit with a father who had immigrated from Iran and a mother who grew up in Monroe.

Honestly—it’s not a typical cookbook dinner [or] book, but a homecoming of sorts with deep Michigan/Detroit roots. I’m a Michigander whose mother’s family has been in-state since before Michigan was an actual state and whose father moved here from Iran in 1964 and, among other things, marched with MLK Jr. in Detroit and established an international medical community in Monroe, Michigan. Michigan is in the book almost as much as “Central Asia.”

Anna’s father’s Iranian family is Azeri—members of the Azerbaijani minority that lives primarily in the northwest corner of the country. In Iran, Azeri’s have long suffered persecution, with efforts to erode the strength of their culture, much as has happened in so many nationalist settings. Ironically, growing up in Michigan, where few people know what an Azeri actually is, Anna nevertheless experienced early life biases as a child of an immigrant group, and an unfamiliar one at that, here in Michigan. “I remember not being invited to sleepovers because other kids’ parents in our Detroit suburb didn’t like where my father came from. I didn’t understand prejudice and fear then as I do now, but I did understand that my family was ‘different.’”

Although few Americans are aware of it, Iran, like nearly every other modern nation-state, is actually a diverse, multi-ethnic country. Roughly 60% of the population is Persian, but there are Azeris, Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen, and others who make up the other 40%. The Spinach Chigirtma dish on the menu two weeks from Tuesday is from the Azerith tradition. British food writer, Rachel Khoo, says of this recipe, “it perfectly captures what [Anna’s] book does best. It takes a humble ingredient we think we know, and shows us its glorious, cross-cultural life. Spinach might seem everyday, but did you know its name traces back to ancient Persia? This leafy green has been blowing minds (and feeding empires) for centuries, and this dish is a delicious tribute.” It also, I think, gives you a taste of the care and complexity that’s gone into the book.

Anna’s dad, a surgeon, traveled extensively when she was growing up. In one of my favorite stories from the book event at the Roadhouse last fall, she shared how her father had tried to bring a rare melon back to his family from a work trip to Uzbekistan—be sure to ask Anna to tell the tale in case it doesn’t come up in the course of the evening’s conversation. Here’s what is on the menu for the event:

Morkovcha – a Korean-style carrot salad
Qurutob – bread salad in the style of Tajikistan
Beet Borani – Iranian yogurt dip with flatbreads
Spinach Chigirtma – Azeri-style spinach and eggs
Pork Mtsvadi – BBQ pork skewers in the style of Georgia
Ziran Doufu – cumin-scented tofu in the style of the Uyghur community of central Asia
Iranian Saffron-Laced Basmati Rice and Crispy Potato Gazmakh –  the classic dish of the Azeri community in Iran and of Anna’s family
Tres Leches – rice pudding

The book, the meal, the energy of the event, Anna’s family stories, her cultural studies, and Ji Hye’s cooking will, I guarantee, come together to make something super special happen! Don’t miss it! Anna lives in London now, so … this is not an everyday experience!

Save your seat

A 500-year-old recipe for rice cakes wins over scores of fans

In recent years, Miss Kim’s reputation for culinary excellence has continued to grow in leaps and bounds—nearly every week, it seems another national article is singing the praises of chef and managing partner Ji Hye Kim. It’s not surprising, then, that more and more out-of-town guests are doing what they have long done at the Deli and Roadhouse: planning their Ann Arbor visits around food from Zingerman’s—Miss Kim has become a key component of their time in Tree Town. Many regular Mail Order customers from far-flung corners of the country (one guest told me his now-retired father on the East Coast orders from Mail Order every week!) have shared that over the course of a weekend, they come to town eager to experience what locals have access to all the time: sitting down at a table to eat full-flavored, traditional Zingerman’s food on site.

As in Korea, one of the most popular dishes at Miss Kim has been the spicy, pork-scented, gochujang-laced Street Style Tteokbokki. Its fame, both in Korea and in Kerrytown, is well-founded—it’s spicy and super delicious.

While the spicy Street Style gets a lot of attention, the much older recipe we make for the Tteokbokki Royale-style also has a lot of fans, me among them! It starts with the same “al dente” rice batons that we use for the Street Style Tteokbokki, but in place of pork and gochujang, this one is gently savory from soy sauce and sautéed shiitake mushrooms. Throw in some seasonal local vegetables to round out the flavor and texture, and you’re ready to eat. Exceptional umami and lovely, richly flavored vegan excellence.

The roots of the Royale Style Tteokbokki go back to the late 14th and early 15th centuries. It was, per the name, prepared to quell the hunger of the new king in the Joseon Dynasty. The Dynasty lasted an impressive five centuries—it fell only in the final years of the 19th century. As the Joseon dynasty began, and when this Royale Style Tteokbokki dish was developed, the chiles that make the Street Style Tteokbokki so terrific were still unknown on the Korean peninsula. They arrived only in the 17th century with Portuguese traders.

The Joseon period left a substantial legacy. Much of the modern Korean language and many of the still widely accepted applications of Korean cultural etiquette, norms, and societal attitudes were developed during the Joseon dynasty. The Joseon Dynasty finally came to an end in the 1890s, roughly 40 years after enslaved African Americans in the US and serfs in Russia had been legally freed. For those of us interested in the struggles we are experiencing here right now between autocratic and democratic constructs, about 15 years after the five centuries of Joseon rule ended, Korea became a conquered colony of Japan. Many attempts were made to free the country from within, but all failed until Japan was defeated by the Allies at the end of WWII. Even then, autocracy remained the order of the day until the spring of 1987, when mass demonstrations finally forced the dictators out and ushered in democracy—in what one might think of as something of a Korean corollary to Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity in 2014.

Swing by soon to try this wonderful, umami-forward, terrifically flavorful vegan dish!

P.S. If you’re in Korea in the spring, there’s an annual Tteokbokki Festival in May. It draws about a quarter-million visitors!

P.P.S. Join Zingerman’s Food Tours in the Spring or Fall next year in South Korea! In this tour co-led by Chef Ji Hye Kim, we start with the old Seoul, visiting traditional food markets and street food stalls of Chef Ji Hye’s childhood and trying the dishes most representative of Korean cuisine—like tteokbokki and Korean barbecue. Then we go off the beaten path to explore the countryside to meet masters in gochujang sauces and kimchi, ceramics artisans, and the seafood foraging grandmothers of Jeju Island.

Little Kim Comes to Kerrytown

There’s exciting news on the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses (ZCoB) front! Little Kim, Miss Kim’s smaller, vegetarian sister, is now officially open! A new Zingerman’s space calls for space on the page, so I’ll pause and let that sink in for a sec.

Just across the walkway from Miss Kim, our newly opened spot offers up managing partner and chef Ji Hye Kim’s nationally renowned Korean cooking—this time in a more casual, counter service set up. All the dishes on the menu are either vegetarian or vegan. Little Kim offers folks a chance to enjoy some of Jy Hye’s great cooking in a quicker context. It’s cool, it’s casual! Come by and check it out. Little Kim is open every day but Monday, 11:30 am to 5 pm. (Miss Kim is closed on Tuesdays.)

While hope, like loading brush, will barely be noticed by most people, the opening of a new business tends to garner far greater attention. And yet, opening a new business is in itself a profoundly hopeful act. No one starts a new restaurant without having some positive beliefs about the future. By definition, they’ve made a plan for how to get wherever it is they want to go. If the new business has a sense of community, it will make clear that each person—customers and crew alike—counts. The work done in the early days matters. If the place is going to make it past the first month, it has to. Done well, a new business is a quiet acknowledgment that the little things make a big difference. As I said in an interview this past week, in a restaurant, that starts with smiles out front and salt levels in the back. It’s also a statement that we’re all, humbly, part of something far greater than ourselves.

Little Kim’s arrival in Ann Arbor has been lighting up the local press of late! Pretty much every major publication in southeastern Michigan has made complimentary mention of Ji Hye’s remarkable cooking and the new, as of last week, Little Kim.

Eater Detroit says of Ji Hye,

Kim’s origins are as humble as the small Midwest city she calls home. She trained not in culinary school but in the kitchens of local restaurants such as Zingerman’s Delicatessen and Zingerman’s Roadhouse (another top-ranked A2 restaurant). Her greatest culinary inspiration? Her mom, a talented home cook who made batches of kimchi every fall with seasonal vegetables, dumplings for New Year’s, and rice cakes for harvest festivals. Her personal favorite was seaweed soup.

“It’s known as birthday soup, because every Korean child gets it on their birthday. So American kids get cake; Korean kids get seaweed soup.”

The menu at Little Kim includes all kinds of great vegetarian and vegan options. Here at the height of the local produce season, it happens to be a near-perfect time to open Little Kim. Given Ji Hye’s passion for local produce, the abundance that early August always brings will be a blessing in even fuller flavor than usual! 

Ji Hye’s Eggs in Gochujang Purgatory is at the top of my list. It’s got a great gochujang (Korean chile sauce) spiked tomato marinara, lots of tender chickpeas, all topped with a sunny-side-up egg. Toasted Bakehouse Farm bread is served on the side! This super tasty treat is inspired by the culinary internship Ji Hye did many years ago in Rome. And that is only the opening bid on the great meals you’ll be able to eat and enjoy from the Little Kim kitchen!

Learn more about Little Kim

A Southern Italian Twist on a Korean Classic

Since we opened the Deli in 1982, we have focused on making full-flavored, traditional food. In the context of Sōetsu Yanagi’s writing, they are foods that are all about the beauty of everyday things. Not stuff to serve for fancy, once-a-year meals, but rather the kind of food one wants to eat every day, as wonderful on a random Wednesday as it might be at an evening celebration of your 18th anniversary.

Our work at Miss Kim is no exception. Thanks to managing partner Ji Hye Kim’s in-depth research work, over the years we’ve been learning more and more about a bunch of traditional, but little-known in the U.S., Korean recipes. Over the years, Ji Hye’s cooking has deservedly gotten more and more attention. In 2021, she was named one of Food & Wine’s best new chefs in America and she’s been nominated for a James Beard Award multiple times. Sōetsu Yanagi, in fact, spent a good bit of time in Korea—starting in 1916, he did extensive explorations into traditional Korean folk arts, advocating often for Korean culture in the imposition of forced Japanese colonization.

Tteokbokki has been one of the best sellers on the Miss Kim menu since the day we opened back in 2016. At the time it was totally unfamiliar to nearly every non-Korean in town. What was once barely known by folks who don’t have roots in Korea or Korean cooking and culture, has become one of the most talked about dishes in the ZCoB. Of the different variations on the menu, Ji Hye shares,

The Street Style Tteokbokki with the sauteed rice cakes was the first one, of course. Then I added the Royale Style Tteokbokki with seasonal vegetables, local mushrooms, and soy sauce. We’ve also had the Stew Tteokbokki as a special sometimes, more brothy sauce and softer tteokbokki.

A few months ago, Ji Hye added a new, not yet traditional tteokbokki to the menu. It has taken off in fine style, so much so that, say in 2082, when the ZCoB is celebrating its 100th anniversary I can imagine this now innovative dish having become a long-standing, simple, and beautiful classic. Ji Hye explains,

Cacio e Pepe Tteokbokki combined my training in Rome and reflected the evolving nature of food and this dish in particular. I’ve seen young chefs in Korea take tteok, the very traditional ingredient of rice cakes, and use them like pasta. I found it intriguing and inspiring to see tradition evolve, but I wasn’t really looking to put a pasta-like dish on Miss Kim’s menu. This dish was more of an accident—I was just making a snack for myself. I crisped up the rice cakes, tossed in miso butter and a healthy pinch of good black pepper from Épices de Cru, and topped with grated parm. I love traditional cacio e pepe with Parmigiano Reggiano and Pecorino Romano. I thought the salty funkiness of miso was a pretty good substitute for pecorino. I just added a bit of pickled red onions to brighten up the dish a bit. As I was enjoying my snack, our staff asked for a taste. Then a whole plate. Then another plate the next day, followed by a plea to put it on the menu, so here we are!

Come to Miss Kim and get a plateful, hot from the skillet!

Miss Kim reservations

The soul of the Seoul food served at Miss Kim

Sitting at a sunny summer patio table in Ann Arbor’s Kerrytown I caught up with Ji Hye Kim, chef and managing partner of Miss Kim, Zingerman’s Korean restaurant. We talked about her food philosophy, approach to running a business, what’s new, and what’s not going to change. If you’ve never had the pleasure of dining at Miss Kim, read on for a primer on where to point your chopsticks first. If you’re already a big fan, read on for more of the story behind those swinging kitchen doors. 

Sara: How would you describe the experience at Miss Kim to someone who has never been before?
Ji Hye: The ambiance is nice. I think it’s comfortable and casual, without being like a quick service place. We have proper dining service that is friendly and not super formal. Our servers are very good at getting you delicious food regardless of your dietary restrictions or preferences. You came into our house—we want to make sure you have really good food and a really good time.

Sara: What sets Miss Kim apart from other Korean restaurants?
Ji Hye: I think the experience you have with the food is different from other Korean restaurants in Michigan, or the Midwest in general, because we pay a lot of attention to the tradition and culinary history. What I try to do is see the essence and story of the dish. I want to see how that translates here because Korean food has distinctive regional cuisines. Korea is smaller than most single states in the United States, but it’s regionally varied. Food travels with the people, so food in South Korea may look different than in North Korea, on the China-North Korea border, and where Korean Russians were exiled into Central Asia. So, I think it’s a continuation of the story of where Korean food lands in Michigan and our take on things. Our menu has one foot in culinary history and another foot firmly planted in the soil of Michigan. I feel each dish has a long story in Korea and I’m adding one sentence at the end because this dish landed in Michigan.

Sara: Does Miss Kim’s food focus on any one of those many Korean regional cuisines?
Ji Hye: It’s not part of our vision to specifically focus on the food of one region, but because my mother is from Gyeonggi Province (the central part of Korea where Seoul is located) and that’s the food that I grew up eating, there is an influence. When I started researching Korean food, I realized some of the dishes she was making for me were specific to that region. My friends whose moms came from a different region didn’t know what they were.

Korea is similar to Italy in that way. Southern Italian food is a little saltier; Calabrese cuisine is a little spicier; in Liguria, in the north, they use more butter. Southern Korean food is saltier, spicier, and the seasoning is heavier. They use more fish sauce because they’re on the seaboard. North Korean food, out in the mountains, tends to be milder. They don’t use as much salt and the dishes tend to be simpler and more humble. Seoul is right in the middle so they go for balance, and maybe a touch sweeter. Also, Seoul, the capital of Korea for 600 years or so, is where all the ingredients in the supply chain ended; so Seoul food tends to be more varied in the ingredients, rather than focusing on seafood on the coast or foraged mushrooms and greens in the mountains. So I think some of our dishes reflect Seoul cuisine and the Gyeonggi region. 

Sometimes even Korean people will come in and comment that our kimchi is too mild, but that is by design. (Though sometimes they assume it’s because I don’t know how to make it.) Kimchi from the southern part of Korea is saltier, spicier, and bolder in flavor, but kimchi from the Gyeonggi area in the middle of the country tends to be milder and crunchier—they want you to taste the vegetable. So that’s why our kimchi is on the milder side.

Sara: What does your mom think about Miss Kim?
Ji Hye: [Laughing] She doesn’t think much of it. She wants to know if I’m making enough money to be comfortable and that it’s not too hard on my body. Other than that she is not relinquishing her title of the best cook in the family. 

She’s not super fond of the fact that I use some American vegetables like beets or asparagus. She’s just kind of like “eh” [waving hand up] “It’s not a Korean vegetable.” She can make a lot of food that we make very easily so she doesn’t think it should be as priced as it is. If you know how to make really good spaghetti bolognese you may not want to pay $35 for a bowl of spaghetti bolognese. It’s sort of a similar idea. She thinks I can make mushroom japchae at home. Really cheap and it’s just as delicious. Why should I pay this much money, but she’s also not paying for rent, living wages and benefits for staff, local mushrooms, and all of that stuff. So basically she’s not impressed [still laughing].

Sara: What was your inspiration for learning to cook?
Ji Hye: Sometimes you read interviews with chefs and they’re like “I knew that I wanted to be a chef when I was three and making raviolis in my Nonna’s kitchen,” or, “I’ve been working in the kitchen since I was 14 and I used to sleep on a potato sack in my mom’s restaurant.” That is not my story. My mom is the firstborn in the family and so is my father, so that meant that every holiday was spent at our house, but she didn’t really let kids cook. She had a lot of cooking to do and teaching kids to cook is a whole different job and she didn’t want to be bothered. I wasn’t gonna be that helpful. She was like, “Out of my kitchen!” One time I asked if she could show me how to make this and that and she’s like, “No, you were born a girl. You’re going to end up in the kitchen anyway cooking for a husband or a child. You don’t need to start now.” She herself didn’t learn to cook until she got married. So I didn’t learn from her. 

I learned much later from working and being self-taught. But I knew my mom was a really good cook. She made a lot of things from scratch, like gochujang fermented chili paste. When I was really young she had these crocks of what I thought were really stinky magic potions—fermented sauces—out on the balcony of our apartment complex. She would get fresh pressed sesame oil delivered from her mother who lived in the countryside. She really cared about ingredients. And I would watch her cook. I think that helped a lot when I started cooking. As I was learning Korean recipes, I just knew how to go about it a lot faster than when I was learning to make Italian or American food. I would remember how my mom did it. I had these peripheral memories, this knowledge bank I didn’t know I had, from watching her. She’s my accidental inspiration in that way.

I continued to learn about paying attention to ingredients by working at Zingerman’s. My appreciation for traditional cuisine and knowing the story behind it, that came from Zingerman’s.

Sara: If you were having someone build a Korean recipe-ready pantry what would you recommend?
Ji Hye: I would make sure that they have sesame seeds, sesame oil, soy sauce, doenjang (fermented soy paste), gochujang (fermented chile paste), and fish sauce. The flavors are a balance between salty, sweet, and spicy.

Sara: What do you think is the biggest misconception about Korean cuisine?
Ji Hye: People tend to think that Korean food is a set of this or tastes like that. It’s not a monolith. Take kimchi for example. There are over 200 documented versions of kimchi. Every region has a different take on it and every season provides a different kind of kimchi. Somebody said there are as many types of kimchi as there are moms in Korea. I mean it sort of allows for that diversity to flourish.

I think that’s one of the biggest misconceptions of food when people think of “ethnic food.” That is only one way. Your one trip to Thailand, or India, or Korea, and then that is your definition of that food. Or if you’re Korean American and you grew up with the food your mom made and you understand that to be the only version of Korean food. There are so many types. It expands in many ways, regionally, seasonally, by price point. It evolves. No one person’s experience represents an entire cuisine.

Sara: If you were to make a brand new customer three Miss Kim dishes, which would you pick and why?
Ji Hye: 1. Fried Tofu. I actually kind of dislike tofu, but I know that when I eat something and I don’t like it, I always leave room that maybe I just never had a good version of it. So, I leave my mind open to be changed. This dish is a converter. That’s why I picked it. I think our tofu plays a lot with texture and flavor. Externally it’s shatteringly crispy. Inside the soft tofu is custardy. I think it’s a fun dish to eat. This is what I call a mind changer. If you don’t like tofu try this dish.

Sara: I can confirm. It’s one of my favorites for the same reasons. I was once at a ZingTrain seminar and Miss Kim food was served for lunch. The first thing to run out on the buffet was the fried tofu. People were telling others to try it.

Ji Hye: 2. Tteokbokki. (For those unfamiliar, it’s a small baton-shaped, stir-fried, soft and chewy rice cake.) Our menu changes from time to time, but we always have a few different kinds of tteokbokki on the menu such as classic street style with gochujang, scallions, pork belly lardons, and poached egg. I think this dish can tell the story of Korea. It started out as sort of a luxurious dish because you take this much cooked rice [holding up both hands] and turn it into these little rice cakes [holding up the thumb and forefinger]. It used to be just street food and now there are so many iterations. Some chefs are using it like rice pasta and serving it with butter sauce, gorgonzola cream, or mozzarella cheese. It’s a fun evolution to watch and we’re looking to add more versions to our menu, like with a tomato vodka sauce. Growing up, tteokbokki was a dish I ate on the streets, sneaking it behind my mom’s back because she didn’t really approve of it, so I feel a personal connection to it.

3. Vegetable Twigim. Seasonal vegetables are quick pickled and fried in the same type of crispy rice flour batter (gluten-free) we use for our Korean fried chicken, then served with spicy mayo. Seasonality is really important in Korean cuisine (the Korean Farmers Almanac has 24 seasons!) and on our menu. We reflect the seasonality of Michigan produce in our dishes. For these fried vegetables, you might find us using cauliflower, green beans, or green tomatoes.

Sara: And a drink to go with it? What’s special about the bar at Miss Kim?
Ji Hye: We focus on traditional Korean drinks. We have plum syrup-flavored soda, cinnamon drink, banana milk, rice wine, and soju. Soju is a sweet grain-based distilled alcohol. I’d say it’s half as strong as vodka. We infuse soju with different Épice de Cru spices and Rishi teas. There’s soju infused with black tea that emulates a light whisky, it has a lot of smoky notes. We also have rose, hibiscus, black sesame, and yuzu—you can order a soju sampler. We’re hoping to bring in an artisanally made rice wine from Brooklyn this summer.

Sara: How does being located at the Kerrytown Shops benefit the restaurant?
Ji Hye: I think our proximity to the Ann Arbor Farmers Market sets the tone of the menu. I have really good relationships with the farmers I’ve been working with for 10 years, since our pop-up days. I wish we were bigger so we could buy from even more local farmers, but there are a few we are really committed to. Kerrytown is a little more neighborhood-like as opposed to being located on Main Street or South University, which I like. It’s a nice place to park and walk around for things to do and then have a cocktail and dinner.

Sara: How often do you go to the Ann Arbor Farmers Market?
Ji Hye: I try to go every farmers market day (right now that’s Wednesdays and Saturdays). The farmers know me and generally know what I am buying, so sometimes they’ll put it aside or deliver it to the restaurant. I still go to the market even if I don’t have a lot of things to buy because it’s a big inspiration to me. 

Sara: What are you most looking forward to coming back in season at the market this summer?
Ji Hye: Corn and tomatoes [said with zero hesitation]. We’ll bring back dishes like miso corn with scallops; tomato salad with soft tofu and wasabi dressing; tomato salad with peaches, hot peppers, and mustard dressing; or pickled and fried green tomatoes. 

Personally, I buy nettles. I can never find enough nettles for me to put them on the menu for the restaurant. But every time I see nettles, I buy them. I blanch them, squeeze out the water, and keep them in the freezer. Sometimes I dress them in sesame oil, garlic, soy sauce, and sesame seeds and eat them as a side dish. Or I might use it as a topping on bibimbap. Or I zip them with a little water and maple syrup and drink it as green juice.

Sara: What is different about Miss Kim today than when it opened eight years ago?
Ji Hye: I think the biggest difference is that we have way more vegetables and vegetarian dishes on the menu. I knew before opening I wanted to have more than ribs and fried chicken. We didn’t start with many vegetarian items, but it was always a goal. Now we’re getting to a good balance. I actually just crunched the numbers and 56% of the dishes on the menu are vegetable-focused. It may not be vegetarian, like the roasted broccolini with fish sauce caramel, but it is really the broccoli we are showcasing.

Sara: What is different about you eight years after opening a restaurant?
Ji Hye: I sweat the small stuff a little less. Everything felt important and urgent then, but when you work that way it doesn’t give you room to breathe and doesn’t make you the best manager. I am better about prioritizing and I am a better leader now.

Sara: What’s been the most surprising thing for you about owning a business?
Ji Hye: How much work I would do telling our story—the story of the food, the restaurant, how we pay people, and how we do things. I didn’t realize how much telling of the story was involved in running a small business.

Sara: Who are you telling the story to?
Ji Hye: Customers dining with us, our staff, media interviews, community non-profits, and local students. I speak to students at Huron High School in the culinary program, at Ross School of Business in marketing, at the University of Michigan in nutrition, and others. I am very open with them about all of our information so they invite me back.

Sara: What’s most rewarding for you about owning a business?
Ji Hye: When the team does well. One thing I think nobody tells you when you start a business is how long it takes to build a culture. When I worked at Zingerman’s Deli, the culture was already established, so onboarding a new employee and having them buy-in is a little easier. But when you’re starting from scratch, there’s no culture established yet, and you have to create it as you go with every single person including yourself, I think that takes three to four years.

But by our third year in business, we were dealing with the pandemic. That time forced us to pay more attention to building our team and culture. We’re definitely a Zingerman’s business, but I think we have our own distinctive personality. We work as one team because we are a tip-share restaurant—we get paid as a team. We talk about money a lot precisely because it has a monetary consequence. 

Sara: Why did you decide to open your restaurant as a Zingerman’s business?
Ji Hye: I took five years on the path to partnership to really suss out if this is what I wanted to do. People ask me why I don’t have Zingerman’s name on my awning, assuming I am not getting the benefit of Zingerman’s if I don’t. I actually think that’s not true. To me, the biggest benefit of being a Zingerman’s business is the community. So when big things like the pandemic happen, or even if you’re just having a frustrating day, you always have someone who can be your sounding board. I think that’s incredibly important if you’re running a small business. Because it can feel like you’re working in a vacuum. Somedays I do feel that way, but then I remember I have a community to go to.

I think in practical terms, Zingerman’s Service Network is really important. Having that support system allows me to not worry about those things, the specialties that are not in my wheelhouse. I don’t want to be dealing with payroll for example. I know many restaurateurs who spend hours and days doing these things or they have HR issues and no one to go to. Then you have a trained fine dining chef ending up as the house accountant and they’re not looking at the food. I don’t want to create my own marketing posters. I’m not going to do a good job and it’s going to take me longer. Having our Service Network experts to do that frees me up to do other stuff. They take those things off my plate so I can do the things only I can do—researching recipes because I read the Korean language, or telling the story of our food, or being in the front as the chef representing the restaurant. Being part of Zingerman’s and having the support allows me to do those things better. 

Sara: You work shifts at Miss Kim in a variety of jobs. What’s your favorite thing to do?
Ji Hye: My favorite thing to do is either hosting or expediting. To me, those two positions are similar and really important for the same reason. They both set the tone and the pace for the service of the food. The host is the first person you see when you walk into the restaurant. They set the tone for the guests and the pacing for the servers. Their communication is important and they can start the experience off on a good foot. The expeditor decides who gets the appetizer first and which entrée is going out when. When I do it, I know things like we aren’t late with these tickets now but we will be in 10 minutes so we can go and take care of the guest. I can do a lot from that spot. I sometimes pour water like Ari does when I am a food runner, so that way I can see every dish and touch every single table.

Sara: What’s next on the calendar for you and Miss Kim?
Ji Hye: We have a collaboration dinner with guest food writer and new cookbook author Khushbu Shah at Miss Kim in July. While it’s a different cuisine, Indian food, her approach is similar to what we do in that she makes traditional Indian food with her own Michigan spin. I’m also doing a pop-up at Seoul Salon in Manhattan in August. I’m excited to compare the Korean food they have created for a New York audience with what we make at Miss Kim. 

If you’re like me, you might find yourself appreciating the nuances of Korean cuisine, feeling inspired to try new things with an open mind, and very (very) hungry right about now. Say hello to Chef Ji Hye for me when you get to Miss Kim!

Sara Hudson
Zingerman’s Creative Services Director

This interview originally appeared in the May / June edition of Zingerman’s News.

NYT writer Eric Kim and award-winning author
Matt Rodbard come to Miss Kim

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