Young Joni will close at the end of the summer after an award-winning decade in business, restaurant owner Ann Kim announced on social media.

Its last day is set for Sept. 14.

“All things in life come to an end and this is our moment to make room for the next chapter,” Kim said in an Instagram post. “It has been a privilege to work with our dedicated teams and serve the greater community with heart, creativity and purpose. I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve created and we look forward to serving our beloved guests one last time over the next few months.”

The northeast Minneapolis eatery, known for its inventive wood-fired pizzas, opened in 2014 and won Kim Best Chef Midwest honors at the 2019 James Beard Awards.

Last year, the chef closed another of her restaurants, Kim’s, shortly after her employees voted to unionize with Unite Here! Local 17.

Kim and Conrad Leifur, her husband and business partner, also run Pizzeria Lola in Minneapolis and Hello Pizza in Edina under the banner of Vestalia Hospitality.

Landlord sues for unpaid rent

Court records indicate some financial trouble was brewing under the surface at Young Joni.

A lawsuit filed by property owner 1300 LLC alleges Young Joni owes more than $140,000 in unpaid rent.

The landlord had leased the restaurant space to Young Joni for a 10-year term that expired in August 2024. When the lease came up for renewal, the two parties discussed the new terms.

1300 LLC, citing comparable market rates, wanted to charge $30-36 per square foot. Young Joni countered with a rate of $18 per square foot.

In June 2024, when they still hadn’t agreed on a rate, the landlord proposed going through arbitration to resolve the dispute, but Kim declined because she didn’t have “the time and energy to go through such a process” due to a labor dispute at her other restaurant.

When the original lease expired and there was still no renewal agreement for Young Joni, the landlord retained the restaurant as a month-to-month tenant and imposed a higher rent.

The lawsuit claims Young Joni is now in default on its lease, owing more than $100,000 in rent underpayments dating back to Aug. 1.

“Young Joni has not paid the appropriate amount of holdover rent for August 2024 or any subsequent month,” the filing states.

Additionally, in 2020, the landlord had agreed to defer more than $42,000 in rent due to COVID-19, with the condition that it be paid back once Young Joni was operating at full capacity. That rent deferment was still unpaid as of this month.

A restaurant that serves French-American cuisine in Minneapolis is the winner of the 2025 James Beard Award for best new restaurant.

Bûcheron – a French word that translates to lumberjack – claimed the prestigious award, one of several that recognize “excellence in the culinary arts, food and beverage, and hospitality industries,” according to a June 16 news release from the James Beard Foundation.

The best new restaurant recognizes establishments that opened between Oct. 1, 2023, and Sept. 30, 2024, and “already demonstrates excellence in cuisine, seems likely to make a significant impact in years to come and demonstrates consistent excellence in food, atmosphere, hospitality, and operations,” the news release says.

And Bûcheron wasn’t the only Minnesota restaurant to be recognized. Karyn Tomlinson, of St. Paul’s Myriel, was named best chef in the Midwest region, which includes Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

“It’s with deep celebration that we congratulate the 2025 restaurant and chef award winners – distinguished culinary, beverage, and hospitality leaders whose talent and vision are shaping our dining landscape,” said James Beard Foundation CEO Clare Reichenbach.

Which restaurants received awards?

• Outstanding Restaurateur: Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr, Frenchette, Le Veau d’ Or and Le Rock, New York, New York
• Outstanding Chef: Jungsik Yim, Jungsik, New York, New York
• Outstanding Restaurant: Frasca Food and Wine, Boulder, Colorado
• Emerging Chef: Phila Lorn, Mawn, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Best New Restaurant: Bûcheron, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Outstanding Bakery: JinJu Patisserie, Portland, Oregon
• Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker: Cat Cox, Country Bird Bakery, Tulsa, Oklahoma
• Outstanding Hospitality: Atomix, New York, New York
• Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program: Charleston, Baltimore, Maryland
• Outstanding Bar: Kumiko, Chicago, Illinois
• Best New Bar: Identidad Cocktail Bar, San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service: Arjav Ezekiel, Birdie’s, Austin, Texas
• Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service: Ignacio “Nacho” Jimenez, Superbueno, New York, New York

Which chefs received awards?

• Best Chef, California: Jon Yao, Kato, Los Angeles, California
• Best Chef, Great Lakes: Noah Sandoval, Oriole, Chicago, Illinois
• Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic: Carlos Delgado, Causa and Amazonia, Washington, D.C.
• Best Chef, Midwest: Karyn Tomlinson, Myriel, St. Paul, Minnesota
• Best Chef, Mountain: Salvador Alamilla, Amano, Caldwell, Idaho
• Best Chef, New York State: Vijay Kumar, Semma, New York, New York
• Best Chef, Northeast: Sky Haneul Kim, Gift Horse, Providence, Rhode Island
• Best Chef, Northwest and Pacific: Timothy Wastell, Antica Terra, Amity, Oregon
• Best Chef, South: Nando Chang, Itamae AO, Miami, Florida
• Best Chef, Southeast: Jake Howell, Peninsula, Nashville, Tennessee
• Best Chef, Southwest: Yotaka Martin, Lom Wong, Phoenix, Arizona
• Best Chef, Texas: Thomas Bille, Belly of the Beast, Spring, Texas

Posted June 16, 2025 5:58pm CDT