Yia Vang

Yia Vang (RPA: Yia Vaj, Pahawh: 𖬕𖬤 𖬖𖬰𖬜; born 1984)^[1] is a Hmong-American chef in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Vang was born in Ban Vinai refugee camp in Thailand after his family had fled Laos at the end of the Vietnamese War after the fall of Saigon.^[2][3] His father, Nhia Lor Vang, and mother, Pang Her, both widowed during the crossing of the Mekong, met at the camp in 1977 and married in 1978.^[4][1] Vang was born in 1984.^[1]

In 1988, when he was four, his family immigrated to the United States, first to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and then in 1997 to Port Edwards, Wisconsin. While growing up, he learned butchering when his family would buy whole animals.^[3][1][5][6] He graduated in 2010 from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse with a degree in communications.^[3][7]

He started his kitchen career early as a dishwasher at Ridges Golf Course and cooked at Golden Sands Speedway. After College Vang moved to the Minneapolis area and worked at Gavin Kaysen’s Spoon and Stable and other restaurants, as a cook.^[3][4] He noticed that while the Twin Cities area has the largest Hmong population^[8] outside of Southeast Asia, it didn't have a restaurant dedicated to Hmong cuisine.^[3][4]

Featured on the cover of Bon Appetit (May 2020) for his restaurant (Union Hmong Kitchen) and unique perspective on Hmong food,^[9] Vang was able to get national attention from the food media world. Recognition started with his first national feature on W. Kamau Bell Emmy Award winning show United Shades of America in 2019^[10] and then getting his first feature on the Food Network digital series "Stoked".^[11] In June 2022, he appeared on Iron Chef^[3] and in November 2022, he started hosting Feral, a show that explores the culinary use of invasive species such as wild boar, on the Outdoor Channel.^{[12][13][14][15]} He has been featured on national press segments on "Good Morning America"^[16] and featured on the nationally acclaimed hunting podcast "MeatEater".^[17][18] He also started a podcast called Hmonglish with journalist Gia Vang about Hmong culture in America and another called White on Rice.^[19][20] He has also served as the host for the TPT series Relish.^[21] In 2024, the newest season of Twin Cities Public Television Relish will be featuring Season 5.^[22] Along with his hosting duties and guest appearances on television shows, Vang also is requested as a keynote speaker for companies such as Target Corporation, 3M, U.S. Bancorp, General Mills and many other Fortune Global 500 companies on the topic of Hmong food and culture.^{[citation needed]}

Beginning in 2016, Vang opened an estimated 100 popups that he called Union Hmong Kitchen with menus including his father's Hmong sausage recipe and his mother's hot sauce recipe.^[2][3] He initially tried to cater to midwestern tastes but eventually decided it was disrespectful to Hmong food and decided to focus on traditional Hmong flavors and techniques.^[3][23]

Vang's first permanent brick-and-mortar space is Union Hmong Kitchen. The restaurant is located in Graze Provisions and Libations, a food hall in Minneapolis' North Loop neighborhood, which opened in October of 2021^[24].^[25][3]

Vang also ran a series of pop ups in a space on Lake Street in Minneapolis through 2023 before reopening the space as the second location of Union Hmong Kitchen.^[26]

In August 2022, Union Hmong Kitchen became the first Hmong food vendor in the Minnesota State Fair located in the International Bazaar.^[27][28] It has continued at the fair each year since. In 2023, it received the "Best Award" from the state fair.^[29] That year, Vang's mother led a crew of family and friends in making 18,500 galabaos for the fair. Galabaos are steamed buns with a pork and noodle mix and a hard boiled egg.^[30] The dish was so popular at the state fair that they had to make more.^[31]

In 2020, Vang started a crowdfunding campaign to fund the opening of Vinai,^[32] a new higher-end restaurant.^[3] The COVID-19 pandemic slowed the development.^[3] Vang states that we're not here to elevate Hmong food, but we're here to illuminate Hmong food.

Vinai is named after the refugee camp in which he was born. Esquire called the restaurant one of the first dedicated Hmong restaurants in the United States.^[3][33] Vinai opened on July 30, 2024, in Northeast, Minneapolis, in the space previously occupied by Dangerous Man Brewing Company.^[34][35] Vinai was named as one of the 50 Best Restaurants in the U.S. for 2024 by the New York Times.^[36] Vang calls the restaurant a love letter to his parents, who met in the refugee camp where he was later born.^[35]

In 2019, Minneapolis St Paul Magazine named Vang Chef of the Year.^[37] In 2020, he was City Pages Outstanding Chef.^[38] In 2022, Twin Cities Eater named Vang Chef of the Year.^[39] In 2023, he was a James Beard Award semifinalist; in 2022, he was a James Beard Award finalist and Union Hmong Kitchen was a semifinalist.^[3][40][5] In 2021, Francis Lam called Vang "one of America's leading voices in Hmong cooking".^[1] Vinai was named as one of the 50 Best Restaurants in the U.S. for 2024 by the New York Times.^[36]

In 2021, Vang became a United States citizen.^[3][41]

• Union Hmong Kitchen
• Vinai
• Hmonglish podcast on Instagram
• Relish, TPT series Vang hosts