Ann Arbor’s Miss Kim’s restaurant will host the next in its guest chef series on April 29 with Sri Lankan-American Chef Sam Fore.
The Miss Kim restaurant is one of Ann Arbor’s hot spots in Korean culinary art. They routinely find ways to keep their menu innovative and incorporate seasonal changes to showcase Michigan’s ever-changing flavors. While the menu offers Asian cuisine like Kimchi Pork Fried Rice or Korean Fried Chicken, the guest series allows the featured chefs to piece together their favorite meals for paying customers.
Chef Ji Hye Kim, owner of Miss Kim, calls the guest chef series an opportunity for collaboration and a learning opportunity while socializing with some of her favorite chefs. She calls this event an opportunity to highlight chefs from across the country.
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“It’s fun and liberating. It feels great,” said Kim. “Some chefs like to showcase their signature menu items, and some want to come up with brand new menu items to see how it goes. I do a couple of dishes, and then they do a few. So each dish has a bit of each chef, but it’s always fun, inspiring and stimulating.”
Her guest for the upcoming event is Chef Fore, named as a finalist for the James Beard Best Chef; Chef Fore creates flavorful meals based on her Sri Lankan roots with southern classics. While Chef Kim says she’s honored to have Fore in the kitchen, she’s equally excited to see what she crafts during the event.
“We used to do more collaboration dinners before the pandemic.” says Kim, “What happened during the pandemic is that I started going outside of an effort to connect with different chefs in the chef community. And naturally, when we hang out amongst chefs, we talk about food and (potentially) visit each other. It happened organically. This year, I wanted to focus on bringing different flavors of my friends to Ann Arbor, so it became more of a consistent series.”
For the event at Miss Kim’s restaurant at 415 N 5th Ave, in Ann Arbor’s Kerrytown, the evening will feature a five-course family-style menu showcasing Sam’s signature cuisine. Tickets are $85 per person.
“I try to keep things fun and down to earth to highlight the guest chef’s food,” said Kim. “They can expect menu items they haven’t seen before. It’s served family-style, where you will be seated with different people. You can make friends or not, but everything will be family-style. And then optional drink pairing is offered.”
Fore, who is also a recipe developer based in Lexington, Kentucky, began doing pop-up restaurants in 2016. In Fall 2023, she opened her first brick-and-mortar restaurant, Tuk Tuk Snack Shop, and became the first Sri Lankan-born finalist for James Beard Best Chef.
“I’ve known Sam since 2020, and I have wanted to try her food,” said Kim. “I was in Lexington (Kentucky). She found out that I was coming and asked me to do specials to feature on her menu. When I was there (Tuk Tuk Snack Shop), I asked her to come to Ann Arbor. So this time, she is coming with her food, and I told her to bring highlights from her last menu, and we will introduce Ann Arbor to you.”
Chef Kim, an award-winner and five-time James Beard nominee, calls this upcoming collaboration with chef Fore an opportunity to take a step back from her usual duties and watch Fore take the reins in her kitchen.
“I want people to know Chef Sam Fore. I know she is on TV as a chef instructor for Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street. She is great with instructions, a mentor, and one of the only people who became a James Beard finalist while operating a pop-up restaurant. Those things make her very special. We know that her food is flavorful and Sri Lankan food in the way that she interprets it in the south of Lexington, Kentucky. I think that is a unique perspective that I am excited to bring to Ann Arbor.”
For more information on the guest chef series, contact Miss Kim restaurant at 734-275-0099 or visit their website.
Antonio Cooper is a freelance journalist from Detroit, Michigan. His coverage of music festivals and interviews with local celebrities appeared in The E-Current Magazine, The Detroit Metro Times, XXL Magazine, RichMagDigital, The Ann Arbor Observer, and Pop Magazine.
