Chef Ann Kim’s eponymous restaurant in Uptown Minneapolis will close on Friday, August 30, “due to ongoing financial losses,” according to a statement from Kim’s restaurant group, Vestalia Hospitality. Kim declined to comment further on the reasons for the closure.
Kim’s opened last fall in the same space that housed chef Sooki & Mimi’s previous Mexican-Korean-inspired restaurant, which specialized in traditional masa dishes. Kim’s served as a canvas for the chef to delve into Korean-American cuisine, reflecting her family’s roots in Korea and her childhood in Apple Valley, Minnesota: The restaurant opened with a menu that includes bindaetteok (savory mung bean pancakes), bibimbap, handmade “spam” sandwiches and simmering egg soufflé, among other items.
On May 28, employees at Kim’s announced their intention to unionize. They organized with the local restaurant workers’ union, Unite Here Local 17, and focused primarily on getting to the bargaining table, where they hoped to eventually set goals for better benefits, pay and stability. A key focus was more consistent work schedules. “It’s about having a protected voice so we can ask for the things we need to live a good, fulfilling life while still playing important roles in the restaurant,” bar manager Iain Knopp-Schwyn said at the time. “We want the restaurant to succeed; we just want it to succeed with all of us.”
Vestalia did not voluntarily recognize the union. Kim made her first public statement on the union initiatives on June 9, writing on Instagram that she “strongly agrees” that everyone has the right to a voice and a vote, but that she believes Kim’s team can “come together” even without a union. (The post has since been removed.) Later that month, food blogger Joe Rosenthal posted internal messages from Kim, her partner Conrad Leifur, and restaurant managers apparently trying to convince employees to vote against the union formation. (Rosenthal’s original post has currently been removed from Instagram due to an ongoing copyright dispute with the Star-Tribune.)
On June 27, Kim’s workers successfully formed a union — 65 percent voted yes. On Thursday, August 22, they were notified of the restaurant’s closure. Unite Here Local 17 shared a message from workers on Instagram: “We are heartbroken because we care about our neighborhood, our customers and each other,” it said. “We organized because we know restaurant workers deserve to go to work every day with their heads held high and with a sense of respect.”
In the statement, the workers said they would seek severance pay, health insurance and reinstatement rights — essentially the right of workers to be rehired if their positions become available should the company reopen — as well as “transfer rights.” Unite Here Local 17 did not respond to an interview request.
Store closings are often viewed as a means of union busting, although it can be difficult to determine the intent and factors that ultimately led to the closure. For example, the National Labor Relations Board has ordered Starbucks to reopen several stores that were allegedly closed due to union activity.
The union movement in the local service sector has gained significant momentum in recent years: Between 2020 and today, the Twin Cities has seen unionization efforts at various breweries, distilleries, cafes, and food and beverage companies, including local versions of the unionization wave at Starbucks. Kim’s was the first restaurant in this line, closely followed by unionization at Colita and Café Cerés. The latter recently won its union election; election results for the former are still pending.
