Photos by Lauren Cutshall
One way to transform trauma is to recraft its memory into a place of honor and joy. That’s precisely what Yia Vang has done with his new restaurant, Vinai, located in the historic Northeast Bank Building in the Sheridan neighborhood of Northeast Minneapolis. Vang named the restaurant after the Thailand refugee camp he was born in, Ban Vinai, where Vang, his parents, and siblings lived, along with thousands of other Hmong people, after fleeing genocide and war. As Vinai’s owner and executive chef—as well as the ebullient host of the Outdoor Channel’s “Feral” wild-meat program and TPT’s “Relish” series—Vang has created dishes inspired by Hmong culture, traditions, and stories. Vinai was recently celebrated as one of the top 50 new U.S. restaurants by the New York Times and “Top 100 World’s Greatest Places” by Time Magazine.
The restaurant itself is a love letter in physical form to Vang’s parents. Five years ago, he reflected on the support they had given him throughout his life and career, and he shared those sentiments with Christian Dean, founder of Minneapolis-based Christian Dean Architecture, who found all the inspiration needed to “create a place of belonging,” Vang says.
“This place was formerly a bank building and brewery, and we wanted to play that down,” Dean explains. Vang and the design team spent hours talking about “the refugee camp, expedient housing, simple framing, modesty, [and] the feeling of the handmade,” Dean says. The wood-gabled interior immediately draws the eye. The sculptural structure also resembles “the mountains of Laos,” Vang says, adding that delicate light fixtures and lanterns hang from the ceiling “like clouds in the mountains.” The installation and natural woodwork throughout the restaurant nod to Vang’s father’s first job in the U.S., where he worked as a carpenter for an Amish furniture company.
Many other design elements pay tribute to his family. A cinder-block centerpiece that resembles a hearth honors Vang’s father teaching him how to grill—a cooking method that inspired many dishes on the menu. Plants throughout recognize his mother’s green thumb, while a shelf toward the back is dedicated to family photos from the refugee camp. Vang says, “From the chairs and tables to the wall tiles, cinder blocks, and the food on the menu, everything here tells a story.”
When his family left Ban Vinai, “My mom said she felt so broken after living in such horrible conditions and never wanted to say the name again,” Vang recalls. “Now, people are recognizing and enjoying this restaurant, Hmong people come in and feel dignity back in their lives, families and friends gather and enjoy great food. And the name Vinai—once a place of sorrow—is a place of joy.”
