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'Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend': Who is Yia Vang? Professional chef began his career as dishwasher

Yia Vang began his career as dishwasher and now he delivers Hmong cuisines to American palates and inspires people to modify how they think about food

Iron Chef is back, and it's grander than ever! 'Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend' sees the return of Alton Brown and Kristen Kish return as hosts in an enlarged Kitchen Stadium brimming with culinary possibilities. The challenger who scores the highest with the judges — in presentation, taste, and usage of the ingredient — in the first seven episodes returns in the finale vs. all five Iron Chefs; the winner is crowned "Iron Legend" by the Mark Dacascos. There are many fantastic cooking shows and competition series on Netflix, but Quest for an Iron Legend is special in that it is a spin-off from the hugely successful Iron Chef franchise.

As per the synopsis of the series, "The legendary Iron Chef series is reborn with a supersized approach to the ground-breaking culinary competition that started it all. It's been called the toughest culinary challenge a chef will ever experience. This is where world-class cuisine meets high-octane sports. Five new trailblazing Iron Chefs will welcome brave Challenger Chefs to the reimagined Kitchen Stadium, where they'll face off and be pushed to the limits of endurance and creativity, as they cook up extraordinary culinary creations. The competition's most successful Challenger will return to battle in a grand finale for the chance to be named the first-ever "Iron Legend."

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Who is Yia Vang?

Chef Yia Vang was born in a Thai refugee camp and raised in central Wisconsin before his family moved. Yia, a professional chef who began his career as a dishwasher, thinks that food can convey a story and that every dish has a tale to tell. Yia delivers Hmong cuisines to American palates and inspires people to modify how they think about food by contemplating the influences in each mouthful by sourcing what's in season and integrating local customs with those from his family and cultural traditions. Yia Vang worked at several prominent Twin Cities restaurants before opening Union Hmong Kitchen. Yia thinks that every dish has a story to tell and uses food to do so.

Yia Vang Family

Vang's family immigrated to the United States when he was four years old, settling in St. Paul after fleeing the Ban Vinai refugee camp in northern Thailand. His parents met and married in Ban Vinai after fleeing Laos after the conclusion of the Vietnam War when the triumphant Pathet Lao campaigned to kill the families of Hmong soldiers who'd fought alongside American forces in the Secret War, a 1961-1975 anti-communist C.I.A. operation. Vang's parents hid in the bush for months, making their way near the Thai border. They eventually crossed the Mekong, emerged on its muddy banks in northern Thailand, and were relocated to Ban Vinai.

His ambition for Vinai, his new restaurant concept (set to launch in Northeast Minneapolis in 2022), is to build a home for Hmong food that honors his parents' tradition and shares his family's narrative through food. Vang described his new restaurant, Vinai, as a love letter to his parents. Vang penned the letter in two or three days, and he claimed three themes stood out: compassion, grace, and unconditional love. Yia hosts TPT's Relish series and has appeared on National Geographic and CNN's United Shades of America. He was the cover story of the May 2020 issue of "Bon Appetit" magazine, among other honors. Yia was also nominated "Chef of the Year 2019" by MSP Magazine and was just voted "Best Chef 2020" in City Pages' "Best-of" edition.

Catch Yia Vang on 'Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend' which premieres on June 15, 2022, only on Netflix.