Chef Ji Hye Kim has just doubled her presence in Ann Arbor, Mich.’s Kerrytown neighborhood, opening Little Kim across from her critically acclaimed Miss Kim. It debuted on Aug. 1.
Little Kim is a fast-casual vegetarian restaurant that draws from Kim’s own Korean heritage as well as other Asian traditions — including influences from Japan, China, and India — while also highlighting Michigan farmers and producers. It has 24 seats and an open kitchen, big windows that let in natural light, and Korean touches like fermentation jars and bamboo baskets throughout the space.
Born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, Kim attended the University of Michigan and pursued a career in hospital administration before making the leap into hospitality. She opened Miss Kim in 2016 and has earned five James Beard Award semifinalist nods for her efforts.
Build-your-own bowls are joined by a daily kimbap and a fried tofu sandwich.
“The Korean food scene is good in Ann Arbor,” Kim said, “but it’s not like in New York where there are many different types of Korean food offered or as many chef-driven Korean restaurants. Most are a sort of mom-and-pop restaurants with big menus serving everything from Korean barbecue to noodles to Korean-Chinese dishes. But that’s changing, for sure.”
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Her restaurants have helped drive that change, and new concepts like the recently opened HanJan Pocha in downtown Ann Arbor, which focuses on Korean drinking food, adds to the scene.
“The specification and diversification of Korean food from one big menu to a specific type of food or a different point of view on Korean food is a great thing,” Kim said.
The fast-casual restaurant has 24 seats, grab-and-go items, and Asian pantry staples.
Little Kim’s menu features build-your-own bowls that start with bases like jasmine rice, greens, or French fries, plus proteins like sesame-soy tofu crumble, tempeh, kidney beans, and chickpeas. There are several vegetable toppings and housemade sauces like gochujang and garlic vinaigrette.
Beyond the bowls, the menu includes a daily kimbap, a fried tofu sandwich, and “eggs in gochujang purgatory,” which features gochujang tomato sauce, chickpeas, a sunny-side-up egg, and bread.
Guests can also browse mini-mart-style shelves stocked with grab-and-go items, housemade sauces, and pantry staples.
Kim now operates two restaurants on the same block, but she’s not too worried about one business stepping on the other. She said that, while they are connected in terms of values and inspirations, she made sure they’re distinctive from one another.
Little Kim is chef Ji Hye Kim’s second restaurant, after Miss Kim, which opened in 2016.
They differ in service style (Miss Kim is full-service while Little Kim is counter-service) and price point. Also, Little Kim is strictly vegetarian while Miss Kim is not, and there’s zero overlap in dishes. The busiest hours are also different, as Miss Kim sees more customers during dinner and Little Kim is currently a lunch spot, open from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“Yes, worries of one concept cannibalizing the other were real, and we thought about multifaceted ways to address that worry, and I think it’s working really well so far,” Kim said. “Although we are for sure harnessing Miss Kim customers, we really thought about attracting new customers that are not necessarily already Miss Kim customers through distinctive food, service setting, and price point.”
