Running a Korean restaurant in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for eight years, Chef Ji Hye Kim has accumulated a long list of accolades. She is a four-time nominee for the James Beard Award, the world’s most prestigious culinary award, and was named one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs in 2021.
Other than her proficiency in culinary arts, Kim’s Korean restaurant, Miss Kim, is also recognized by many media outlets as a restaurant with happy employees. In an interview with the Korea Daily, Kim shared how she became a successful chef-business owner.
After immigrating to New Jersey with her family as a child, Kim attended the University of Michigan. Upon graduating, she worked for a healthcare company in Ann Arbor and was earning over $100,000 a year.
Interested in cooking from a young age, Kim began dreaming of opening a high-end Korean restaurant to introduce Korean cuisine to Michigan. She left her well-paying job to gain experience at Zingerman’s, a restaurant and deli company. Without attending culinary school or having any experience as a chef, Kim’s salary was cut by more than 80% to $17,000, but she was willing to take it to fulfill her dream.
At Zingerman’s, Kim started from selling cheese in the deli, worked her way up to chef, and then ran her own food truck. Eight years later, in 2016, she opened her dream Korean restaurant, Miss Kim.
Kim firmly believed that Korean food made by a chef using locally grown produce would make a difference. Miss Kim wasn’t an instant success, but it grew slowly with her confidence.
But just as it was getting into the black, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Every day, Kim sat in the empty restaurant hall and wondered how to survive the pandemic. From takeout to delivery, meal kits, and catering, she did everything she could. Once the pandemic passed, sales took off, and by 2023, the restaurant reached $1.8 million in yearly revenue. This is remarkable considering that in 2017, the year after she opened her restaurant, its revenue was less than $700,000 with nearly $500,000 in the red.
When asked about the secret to her success, Kim came up with an unexpected answer. Rather than the quality of food or the vibe of the restaurant, she said it is that she pays employees a “living wage” and shares tips equally with everyone.
Kim explains how she came to realize the need for fair wages and tips. “When I was working as a chef, I saw servers get frustrated when it snowed. In many states, tipped servers only get a little over $3 an hour for their wages. If it snows and there are no customers and they don’t get tips, they can’t make a living. I thought that was unfair, so I gave them a livable hourly wage. Sometimes labor cost itself as high as 70% of sales, but I stood by my principles.”
The current hourly wage for tipped servers in Michigan is $3.93. However, servers at Miss Kim make more than $14 an hour on top of tips.
With a steady income, the servers were able to provide good service to their customers, and quality service led to customer satisfaction and increased sales.
In addition, the servers shared their tips with the chefs in the kitchen. Sharing the tips improved teamwork as everyone worked together. The chefs took more responsibility for the food.
The 80-seat restaurant is often packed with customers, but Kim’s dreams don’t stop there. She is preparing to open Little Kim, a restaurant that will serve light vegetarian meals. It will be a grab-and-go system like fast-food restaurants but with healthy dishes, all based on Korean food.
BY WONHEE CHO, HOONSIK WOO [cho.wonhee@koreadaily.com]
