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Food and Drink
MPR News Staff

Chef Yia Vang announces new restaurant Vinai will open next spring in Minneapolis

A man poses outside a building in an apron.
Chef Yia Vang announced that his restaurant Vinai will move into the space at 1300 2nd St. NE in Minneapolis’ Northeast Bank Building, the former location of Dangerous Man Brewing Company taproom.
Photo by Lauren Cutshall

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Acclaimed chef Yia Vang has announced plans to open a new restaurant in northeast Minneapolis, in the space soon to be vacated by the Dangerous Man Brewing taproom.

In an announcement Monday morning, Vang said he aims to open Vinai next spring in the Northeast Bank Building, on Second Street Northeast.

Vinai — named after the refugee camp in Thailand where Vang was born — “is meant to serve as an homage to the heritage of Vang’s family while also continuing to share Hmong culture, traditions, and stories with the Twin Cities community and beyond,” according to the announcement.

Vang, who also operates Union Hmong Kitchen in Minneapolis, had first announced plans for Vinai in early 2020 — before the COVID-19 pandemic. There have been Vinai events and pop-up dinners as work continued on securing funding and finding a permanent home.

A number of dishes displayed on a table.
A serving of venison dumplings from Chef Yia Vang's Vinai.
Photo by Lauren Cutshall

“The road to opening Vinai has been a much longer one than we expected, but we are finally at a point where we have a home,” Vang said in Monday’s announcement. “It was a roller coaster of a process but we’ve learned so much in that time and we’ve been so thankful for the patience and support that we’ve been shown over the years.”

The building where Vinai will be located has been home to the Dangerous Man taproom for a decade. The owners of the brewery announced last week they’ll be closing the taproom on Oct. 21, though they’ll keep brewing beer at a separate production facility in Maple Lake, Minn.

“This restaurant is about carrying on my parents’ legacy,” Vang said. “But it’s also about carrying on a piece of Dangerous Man’s legacy, and the legacy of the community here.”

Vang will be a part-owner of the building, located in a neighborhood with other popular and acclaimed restaurants.

“We love the neighborhood — and we feel so lucky to join the strong community that these restaurants and Dangerous Man have cultivated over the years,” Vang said.