After 10 years in business, the smash hit Young Joni restaurant in Northeast Minneapolis will serve its final meal on Friday.

Northeast Minneapolis is a beautiful blend of culture, art and vibrant businesses.

And on one corner, for the past 10 years, a tasty piece of that puzzle has been Young Joni. 

"Young Joni is named after my mother and my husband's mother," owner Ann Kim said. "We really set out to honor their spirits. So when you walked through the doors, it felt like you were getting a giant hug."

Kim has always believed the promise of a fresh slice could bring a group together.

"Pizza is the great peacemaker, I always say," Kim said.

It's a vision she brought to life from the ground up in 2015.

"It was an empty shell. Originally, it was the Polish community center. This corner of northeast is very much rooted in eastern European traditions and people," Kim said. "I saw something more. I think people were shocked and surprised when we first opened to find a cheese pizza sitting harmoniously with a whole fish and an array of kimchi. It all just made sense, it somehow worked."

She made it her own but always wanted it to be something the neighborhood connected to and was proud of.

"Initially, when I built this space, I was a little nervous. I didn't want to alienate what was an incredible community already," Kim said. "I saw a place where it would be a neighborhood restaurant first and it just happened to become a destination place."

"The neighborhood has flourished into something I'm so proud of and would have never imagined 10 years ago," she added. "It's grown so diverse and the neighborhood has embraced that diversity. We were just one of the few restaurants that were bringing something a little different from Polish sausages and brats and beer and now if you look around, it's like we have Vinai by Yia Vang and Diane's Place by Diane Moua and Oro and Nixta. I hope that will continue and I think it will, with just looking around at my colleagues and neighbors and what they're doing, it's so incredible. And they're carrying on that same spirit of heritage and tradition."

Kim is a self-proclaimed perfectionist and pessimist.

"It exceeded my wildest expectations that we became what we became," she said.

A line out the door, a James Beard Award and then, Netflix called.

"When the producers reached out to me, I thought it was spam, so I deleted it," Kim said.

Kim was featured on the Netflix hit "Chef's Table." And suddenly, Minnesota was on the map for pizza, and items that showcased her Korean heritage as an immigrant, but also her upbringing in the Midwest.

"They said, 'Your story resonates with so many people,'" Kim said. "I'm grateful to be able to take something that was a big source of shame for me and now to make it a great source of pride is awesome. And being able to bring those cultures together through a vehicle like pizza is just incredible."

For Kim, closing the doors is an emotional milestone.

"Every day I wake up, sometimes I'm crying, but the overwhelming feeling that I have is gratitude," she said. "I think when we made the announcement that we were going to close a lot of people were in shock. Yeah, do we have another 10 years in us? I think so. But something in me just told me it's just time."

The outpouring of love from the community since the announcement of the closure has just been overwhelming. People are sad about it because it meant something to them," she added. "When you make things personal, you take things harder. It's harder to let go. But it's also, I think because it's personal, I think that's why it was so good."

Kim said for now, she doesn't see a reboot of Young Joni in a new location in the cards. 

What she's certain of is that she'll start with a vacation.

"For now, for the first time in my life, I think I'm just surrendering to what comes," Kim said. "It is devastatingly hard for a perfectionist, but I'm going to try and let's see what unfolds."

Will there be more restaurants from Kim in the Twin Cities?

"I told you I don't know what's next," she said. "If my heart says this is right, then I'll definitely do it ... For me, it wasn't about building an empire or more, more, more.

"I'm simplifying my life," she added. "So it's both an ending and a beginning."

You can still see Kim at Hello Pizza and Pizza Lola. She said they'll be bringing some Young Joni classics and favorites into Pizza Lola on a rotating basis.