Yia Vang is everywhere. From filming television shows and debuting food at Target Field to operating Union Hmong Kitchen's stand in Minneapolis' Graze food hall and fielding questions about his highly anticipated restaurant Vinai, the man is busy.
So when Vang's latest pop-up, Mee-Ka, recently opened inside his company's commissary kitchen space, it was a surprise (yet not a surprise) to find him in the dining room. He talked about his upcoming trip to Laos before stepping away to tend to the ever-present demands of a celebrity chef on the rise.
Mee-Ka and the other concepts coming out of his Hilltribe restaurant group are intensely personal to Vang — as is the collaborative nature of the group. Its slogan? Always moving forward together.
"We always say in Hilltribe that 'you cook from who you are.' We believe that everyone has a story to tell and if we listen to each other about the way we cook and eat, we start seeing that story evolve," said Vang.
The company takes its name from "hill tribe people," a catchall description for tribes living in the northern region of Laos, Thailand and Vietnam who are on the low end of the region's cultural hierarchy. Among that group are the Hmong, which includes Vang's parents. They were part of a wave of immigrants that landed in the Midwest in the late '80s.
Since he first opened Union Hmong Kitchen as a pop-up, Vang has become a nationally sought-after representative for Hmong cuisine, and his restaurants have blended the traditional food with his classic chef training.
Like all of Vang's endeavors, the story of the Hmong people is threaded throughout. Anyone who has attended a Hmong family celebration knows that many hands work to prepare the feast. Similarly, Mee-Ka is built by a community of cooks doing the work and sharing ideas.
At the core of Mee-Ka are Mike Yuen, Hilltribe's culinary director, and Tony Gao, the sous chef working the line on our visit. Im Yang was welcoming customers and answering questions, but he's also a sous chef who talked about the day the kitchen crew came up with their version of nqaij tsaws, a pork dish. Carlyn Shanley dreams up pastry specials, including a fresh twist on Key lime pie and a miso chocolate chip cookie. Shalom Stout-Harris was preparing orders with lightning speed, and Marshall Paulsen, who will eventually lead Vinai with Vang, was espousing the flavor fun of adding toasted rice powder to just about everything. "It was a momentary obsession," he said.
