Kimberly Kong eats her way through 100 Asian restaurants

Food influencer Kimberly Kong knows how to find a restaurant’s good side.

She understands the art of the cheese pull and the delicate touch it requires to catch glistening strands as they ooze from crisp bread. She’s a star at maneuvering around a fresh pot of soup, unfazed by plumes of steam rolling off a bowl of finicky, swirling noodles.

Now her Nomtastic Kim persona — and its Instagram page with more than 122,000 followers — is setting out on a very personal project: highlighting 100 small Asian businesses across Maryland. Kong, who is Korean American, said she hopes the series will push more people to patronize their local, immigrant-owned eateries. She’s not being paid by the restaurants. Instead, the project comes from a desire to do something meaningful with her platform at a time when many of the businesses she loves face mounting challenges.

“I want people to see this culture as not other, but as something that makes the great state of Maryland even richer,” said Kong, a Pittsburgh native who grew up making trips with her mother to Maryland for piano lessons. She moved to the state at 18 to attend the Peabody Institute.

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Over the years, Maryland has grown more diverse. An influx of Asian and Latino residents in the state is credited with preventing a population decline, according to a 2025 WTOP report. Data collected by The Banner shows most counties in the state lost white residents last year, while Black, Latino and Asian communities grew.

Videographer Minje Suh films Kimberly Kong as she interviews Kevin Hsieh, owner of Bao Bei. (Valerie Plesch for The Banner)

Kong said it feels as though she can “travel the world” by traversing the state’s eclectic dining scene. So much of this growth is happening quietly in the suburbs, she said. The small, family-owned spots she frequents are creating their own communities, from Ellicott City’s Koreatown to Rockville’s Sichuan scene.

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But many of these local spots are struggling.

She said restaurateurs already operating on razor-thin margins are coming off a year of volatile price hikes. China and Laos faced some of the highest new tariffs on U.S. imports, including on food and agricultural products. Higher import taxes on spices and coffee from Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia, put additional financial pressure on small businesses looking to capture authentic flavors.

A Feb. 20 Supreme Court decision struck down many of these import costs. But a new slate of tariffs and the unchecked rise in the cost of beef and coffee remain an issue for local eateries, some of which risk alienating customers if they raise prices.

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“With mom-and-pops, they’re so used to doing everything by themselves, they have a limited budget,” Kong said. “So a lot of the times they’re just trying to feed their community and keep the doors open.”

This makes it hard to compete with larger chains as the market for Asian food in Maryland grows.

That’s where Kong comes in.

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Kong said these family-owned spots are well aware that social media has the power to boost business, though many don’t have an online presence. “Some people, I can’t even tag their account because they don’t have one,” she said.

Delimanjoo Dessert Corner, a small shop in Ellicott City’s Lotte Plaza Market, is one of them. Kong touted their bungeoppang, a carp-shaped pastry often stuffed with a red bean filling, as best in the state. The owners of the 9-year-old eatery praised the full-time marketing professional, who produces social media videos in her free time, for her ability to bring in customers. They said Kong’s video “moved the needle for them” in a positive direction, she said, but they have yet to pursue their own online marketing.

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For the small restaurants that do try it, Kong said, she often sees the responsibility fall to younger generations. In Baltimore, Mayuree Thai Tavern’s Andy Thammasathiti, who co-owns the business with his mother, is featured for Day 27 of Kong’s video series. He explains the significance of their food — cold soaking noodles, instead of boiling, to keep them chewy — and leaning on his grandmother’s traditional Thai recipes. He’s also responsible for the eatery’s social media page, now with more than 3,000 followers.

“If you’re a small team and you’re handling front of house, back of house, all the operations, it’s such a huge thing to tack on and do it well,” Kong said, adding that developing a fluency in technology can be difficult for older immigrant business owners.

Kimberly Kong during filming of a new Instagram video profiling Bao Bei, a Taiwanese street food eatery in Rockville, Md. The restaurant is the 43rd stop in Kong’s series highlighting 100 Asian eateries on her social media platforms. — Kong and Suh film a selection of food at Bao Bei, the 43rd stop in Kong’s series highlighting 100 Asian eateries. (Valerie Plesch for The Banner)

Kimberly Kong and videographer Minje Sun film an Instagram video of Kevin Hsieh preparing food at Bao Bei, a Taiwanese street food eatery in Rockville, Md. The restaurant is the 43rd stop in Kong’s series highlighting 100 Asian eateries on her social media platforms. — Kong highlights the small, family-owned spots she frequents that are creating their own communities. (Valerie Plesch for The Banner)

Kimberly Kong and videographer Minje Suh film an Instagram video in the kitchen at Bao Bei, a Taiwanese street food eatery in Rockville, Md. — The filming alone for Kong’s videos can take two to three hours. (Valerie Plesch for The Banner)

The filming alone for Kong’s videos can take two to three hours. When she’s done, Kong and her friend Minje Suh, who films and edits, can spend another six hours finalizing her post. Kong has developed her own style, which she said is genuine and not hyperpolished.

Her proudest moments come when chefs take the time to educate her, like on Day 31 of her series, when Payesone Hakamata, owner of Bethesda’s Ramen Menri, explained the process of pulling fresh noodles from their machine and aging flavors for their signature tonkatsu broth.

One day, Kong hopes to open a nonprofit that offers marketing and social media counseling to small, diverse businesses. It’s an opportunity to even the playing field and ensure everyone has the opportunity to give their heritage a platform, she said.

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“This is my way of saying these restaurants matter, these people’s stories, they matter, and they’ve been here and building the culture the entire time.”