Exciting news from chef Yia Vang: Vinai, the much-anticipated restaurant celebrating his family’s Hmong heritage, has found a everlasting home and is about to open next spring.
Vinai will probably be within the Northeast Minneapolis spot currently occupied by Dangerous Man Brewing Co. The brewery, an early player within the Twin Cities craft beer scene, is closing its taproom in October after a decade, though they’ll proceed to supply beer for industrial sale.
Vang announced plans for Vinai in 2020, just before COVID-19 broke out.
As he’s worked through roadblocks, Vang has pressed on: Union Hmong Kitchen went from pop-ups to 2 locations in Minneapolis, and his State Fair stand has been successful two years running. Vang has cooked on national television and hosted his own shows, and was named a semifinalist for Best Chef: Midwest at this 12 months’s James Beard Awards.
A Vinai residency last summer generated plenty of pleasure for the project.
“The road to opening Vinai has been a for much longer one than we expected, but we’re finally at some extent where we’ve got a house,” Vang said in a press release. “It was a roller coaster of a process but we’ve learned a lot in that point and we’ve been so thankful for the patience and support that we’ve been shown through the years.”
The addition of Vinai strengthens the neighborhood’s already-stellar fame as one in every of the Twin Cities’ great dining destinations: Ann Kim’s Young Joni and Oro by Nixta Tortilleria, chef Gustavo Romero’s recent celebration of traditional Mexican flavors, are each lower than a block away. A pair minutes up the road is Christina Nguyen’s Hai Hai.
Vinai’s menu will proceed Vang’s project to make use of food to inform stories about Hmong culture and heritage, including his personal family history. Vinai, in spite of everything, is known as after the refugee camp in Thailand where Vang was born.
“You get to know people more whenever you get to know their food,” Vang told the Pioneer Press last fall.
Vinai, by chef Yia Vang: Opening spring 2024 at 1300 Second St. NE, Minneapolis; www.vinaimn.com