Sunny Park had long dreamed of opening her own kimbap restaurant. A veterinarian by training, she’s lived around the world, including in China, New Zealand, Japan, Boston and now, the West Coast.

After deciding to pursue the idea at the start of the year, she opened her ghost kitchen restaurant, called Bibimmate, in May. The name is an amagalmation of “bibim,” which means mixing in Korean, and mate, as in friend.

She tested her recipes on her son — a picky eater — and her husband. the rolls it turned out, were a good way to get her son to get some vegetables in his diet.

“I want people, at least around the San Mateo area, to have a healthy lunch or dinner,” she says.

Interest and awareness about the filled Korean rolls has grown over the years, but spiked in August 2023, when Trader Joe’s introduced a frozen vegetable kimbap version at its stores. Today, she’s pleasantly surprised by how much visitors know about the dish.

Among the kimbap fillings on the menu are fishcake, imitation crab, spam, sweet beef, fried tofu (vegan and vegetarian), spicy beef, tuna mayo and  kimchi. Rolls are $13.95.

Orders can be placed via DoorDash or other delivery and pickup platforms.

Details: Open 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 4:30-7:30 p.m. weekdays and 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Saturdays at 66 21st Ave., San Mateo.