Vinai residency gives preview of Yia Vang's long awaited Hmong restaurant

If it seems like we've been waiting a long time for Vinai, the brick-and-mortar restaurant from Union Hmong Kitchen chef Yia Vang, imagine how Vang feels.

"It's one of those things where people are like, 'Oh, you guys should be on the way,' and I'm like, it does not work like that," Vang said. "Banks don't care about how many times you've been on Netflix or what Bon Appetit writes about you."

Although financing issues may have delayed the northeast Minneapolis restaurant — an initial projection of spring 2021 has moved to 2023 at the earliest — Vang isn't letting them halt his dream completely. For one thing, he picked up a James Beard nomination for Best Chef: Midwest while waiting for Vinai's funding to come through.

And all summer, guests can get a preview of Vinai at a three-night-a-week residency at Steady Pour Beverage Co., a craft cocktail maker and private event space in Minneapolis.

"We're not going to be stopped just because we don't have a brick-and-mortar," Vang said. "That's the heart of the residency."

It's been a "hard road" for Vang to reframe what he imagined Vinai would be by now. In a way, the restaurant's journey mirrors the struggle of his parents and his people, refugees who fled Laos and used only the ingredients that were available to nourish their families.

"When this all started, I thought Vinai was going to be the pinnacle of what we're doing. One of things I learned is that Vinai is actually one part of the branch," Vang said. "I felt like I wanted to unveil Vinai when we had this perfect spot. But what if the perfect spot was always here? It's not about a building, it's not about a location, it's about the people that are a part of it. Vinai has always been here. What we've shown is we can be mobile wherever we go."

Location: Steady Pour's Minneapolis private event space. 2125 E. Hennepin Av., Mpls. steadypour.com

The Vinai residency runs through September. Dinners are at 6 p.m. Thu.-Fri., 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sat.

Tickets, which include dinner and drinks, run $120 per person, but checking out will add a 20% service charge plus taxes and fees. No money is exchanged at the dinner. Reservations are currently available through mid-August at exploretock.com/unionhmongkitchen.

The food: Fans of Union Hmong Kitchen's meat-and-sticky rice combos will have a chance to see what else Vang has up his sleeve. The five-course tasting menu dips into the different elements of a Hmong dinner table, he explained. Those are: Khoom Noj (Tiny Treats), Yog Peb Xwb (Just Us), Mov (Rice + Noodles), Nqaij Ci + Zaub (Grilled Meats + Veggies) and Qab Zib (Sweets).

The menu will change monthly, giving him a chance to showcase dishes on the future Vinai restaurant's menu, and to evolve with the season. Vang's parents grow and harvest many of the vegetables with which he cooks.

Highlights from the July menu spanned from ultra-fresh to ultra-comforting. They included a grilled asparagus salad drizzled with a fish sauce and Thai chili vinaigrette, and chewy ramen noodles in cashew tahini sauce and red curry "Bolognese."

While a typical Hmong dinner would pile everything onto the table at once, Vang said he broke the meal into courses for logistical reasons. But to keep things a little more like a Hmong dinner party, he insisted on serving the courses family-style.

"When people come to these coursed-out dinners, they have a vision of what it's going to be like, and we want to shake that up, saying, look, that's a very Eurocentric way of eating — nothing wrong with that," he explained. "But we want to really teach you the philosophy of what Hmong food is, and how we eat our food is just as important as what kind of food we're eating."

The drinks: Steady Pour owner Jeff Seidenstricker went to Hmong Village with Vang to generate inspiration for the cocktail pairings, which match a drink with each course. "We browsed vendor stalls, talked about various vegetables and spices and shared a few iconic Hmong dishes together," Seidenstricker said. "We talked about Yia's favorites and bounced ideas back and forth about how to play on those flavors."

The result was five refreshing beverages, three with alcohol and two without, that incorporate flavors such as galangal and lemongrass, grapefruit and coconut, ginger and soy, and tamarind and Assam tea. Some of those flavors may make their way into Steady Pour's nonalcoholic bottled mixers.

The vibe: Banana leaf runners line (mostly) communal tables in a sparse, white-walled loft on industrial E. Hennepin Avenue, just west of Hwy. 280 and the Lauderdale border. The Steady Pour space has been hosting chef-driven pop-ups throughout the pandemic, recently with Gustavo Romero of Nixta and Dan Manosack of Broken English, but Vinai's residency is its longest presence so far. The Steady Pour team is working on getting a liquor license for the space to become a public restaurant and bar. In the meantime, look for more chefs and culinary pop-ups.

Parking: Steady Pour has an ample parking lot, and you're welcome to leave your car overnight, should the drinks be too potent for you.