BEHIND THE SCENES WITH
Bon Appétit
& Chef Yia Vang
One cold February in Minneapolis, with 6 inches of snow still on the ground, I spent a day on set with Bon Appétit pretending it was spring. We were shooting a feature with Chef Yia Vang of Union Hmong Kitchen for their annual grilling issue. Chef Yia Vang brings a modern twist to traditional Hmong cuisine.
FOOD + CULTURE
Bringing the story of Hmong cuisine to a national audience
Making the Cover
As the Creative Director for Yia Vang’s restaurant group, I managed the brands and visual storytelling for two of his restaurants. We crafted distinctive brands for both restaurants with brand books, photo shoots to build marketing photo archives and a recipe catalog. We came into the Bon Appétit shoot with a well-curated visual style and a high level of organization. On set, we were able to bring that distinctive visual aesthetic—a combination of the hand-crafted tradition of Hmong culture and the modern innovation of Vang—into these photos through careful prop selection and food styling. Vang’s delicious recipes combined with strong visual storytelling landed us on the cover of the issue!
“Minnesota is home to the largest diaspora of Hmong people living outside Asia. The stateless, nomadic community’s history reveals itself in its spicy, smoky, mouth-walloping cuisine...”
— ASHLEA HALPERN for BON APPETIT
The Art of
Food Photography
Food photography looks deceptively simple—a single image for an editorial feature can take an hour or more to photograph. I was lucky to be on set with some of the best creatives in the food world—creative director Michele Outland and photographer Laura Murray. I loved participating in their process to make each shot work as an individual vignette but also feel connected as a feature story. I curated a collection of props—ceramics, baskets, banana leaves—so the photos reflected Vang’s visual brand. I food-styled each recipe in a natural way to show it at its most beautiful, but also to feel achievable for the at-home cook. This photo of Vang’s Potluck Salad might be my favorite shot of the day for its vibrancy and simplicity.
To create a strong visual story around food you have to go beyond the plate to include people and environments as well. A food truck can be a cramped and chaotic space, but that was Vang’s home base at the time, so we made it work. I did a styling sweep in the trailer and it served as the perfect background to these lively behind-the-scenes photos.
All About Those Details
Vang is dedicated to sharing his personal history and the stories of Hmong culture through his food. I collaborated with him to test and write the recipes, then organized them into a well-designed package for delivery straight to the Bon Appétit test kitchen. We also had some beautiful photos of many of the recipes from a studio shoot I art directed earlier in the year to show how the recipes looked and highlight Vang’s distinctive style.
The test kitchen told us they had never received such a nicely organized submission from a chef before! Approaching a national magazine with a high level of organization and creative vision shows them that you will be a great collaborator.
Vang always says that “every dish has a narrative” and that definitely felt true for the way this feature weaves a visual story of the life of Yia, his family and the delicious dishes he is cooking up in Minneapolis.
Read the feature about Chef Yia Vang —>
PROJECT TEAM
All photos from Bon Appétit magazine
Art direction: Michele Outland
Photography: Laura Murray
Prop sourcing: Rose & Co.
Food styling: Rose & Co. and Yia Vang
Writer: Ashlea Halpern
The Recipes
“Our Test Kitchen says his recipes are some of the tastiest they’ve tried all year.”
— Bon Appétit
“Delicious in a punch-your-taste-buds kind of way.”
— Bon Appétit Reader Review