It’s been a long road, but chef Yia Vang’s tribute to his homeland, Vinai, is finally opening its doors.

Chef Yia Vang in his new restaurant, Vinai, in Northeast Minneapolis. (Courtesy photo — Lauren Cutshall)

The restaurant, in the former Dangerous Man space in Northeast Minneapolis, will serve its first meal to the public July 30, but we got a sneak peek of the space.

Vinai is named after Ban Vinai, the refugee camp in Thailand where Vang’s parents met. The menu is structured to be family-style — meat platters feed several people, and side dishes and appetizers are made for sharing. Meats range from New York Strip to wood-fired chicken to catfish lettuce wraps.

The space, designed by local architecture firm Christian Dean Architecture, includes a ton of personal touches, with the wood ceiling structure mimicking the long huts under which people would gather in the refugee camp and cinder blocks representing the makeshift fire pit Vang’s dad cooked over at home.

New York Strip steak at Vinai, chef Yia Vang’s new restaurant in Northeast Minneapolis. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

“During the day, the orange tones of the space look like the red dirt from Northern Laos,” Vang said in a news release. “And in the evening, the tones shift to a brown hue, reminding us of the dirt here in Minnesota. We call both of these places home.”

The bar program, which emphasizes Hmong ingredients like Hmong cucumber, culantro and galangal, was created in partnership with Jeff Seidenstricker of Steady Pour.

Vang first held a GoFundMe for the restaurant in 2020, but raising the rest of the money proved difficult. Vinai was well worth the wait, though, with a beautiful space and soulful food telling the story of not just the chef, but his family and so many other Hmong refugees.

The restaurant seats 88 people and will be open Tuesday through Sunday evenings. Reservations are available on the restaurant’s website.

Vinai: 1300 Second St. N.E., Minneapolis; vinaimn.com

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