When Soomin “Mina” Kim and her American-born husband decided to return to the United States, they wanted to find a good work situation. Equally important? “We wanted to be close to Korean food,” she remembers. That’s why they picked Northern Virginia.
Among family and friends, Kim quickly became something of a Korean food concierge. She assisted loved ones when they ordered at restaurants in Annandale and Centreville’s Koreatowns. Kim and her husband joked that she could make a business of sharing her culinary and cultural knowledge.
Two Christmases ago, he registered the business for her as a gift. And so Virginialicious was born.
Virginialicious Food Tour
After a series of practice tours, the company launched in April 2024. Before long, tours started selling out. Kim alternates dates with animated guide Sujin Park. Tour sizes cap at 12 in order to maintain a personalized feel, though private groups can be larger.
On a recent Saturday, I joined Park and seven other guests on a three-hour jaunt around Annandale. Beginning with an “appetizer” of songpyeon (sweet, chewy rice cakes) at a cute, local-beloved market, the guide brought us to five additional businesses. There, Park shared the stories of the restaurateurs we met, which Kim gathered through formal interviews, as well as the cultural context for each dish.
Those included everything from gimbap and tteokbokki washed down with somaek (a soju and beer cocktail) to the sweet finish of freshly baked red-bean buns. Throughout the tour, Park kept things light with demonstrations, photo opps, and even a drinking game, complete with prizes.
Popular with Locals
The typical guest list, says Kim, is 90 percent composed of DMV locals. “Quite a few people have told me, ‘Hey, I’ve lived in Annandale for 26 years, and had never been to any of these restaurants, because it was a little intimidating to walk into these restaurants.’ So that makes me really, really happy that now they can go back to their neighborhood restaurants,” says Kim. On my tour, participants ranged from total Korean food newbies to the founder of a DC kimchi company.
At $82-per-person, the amount of food and information to which guests are treated already makes the experience a steal, but Kim shares that she opens herself to questions from past participants, too. “Yesterday, I got an email from one of the participants from the past. ‘Hey, Mina, I bought some fish cakes. I’m adding tteokbokki, but what do I do with the rest of the fish cakes?’ I sent her a recipe,” Kim explains.
In essence, she says, “Our whole spiel is that we are your newest Korean friend, and I’m not joking.” I’m glad to have that resource myself and recommend that anyone with a passion for food — whether they already know their way around a hangeul-filled menu or are just ready to learn more about a new-to-them tradition — give Virginialicious a taste.
Feature image courtesy Alice Levitt
