Bao You Like It pop-ups offer a satisfying snack after hitting the slopes in Vail

Eat the Bao. Feel the Wow. That’s the feeling Mick Boland and May Yang want you to experience after you’ve tried the bao buns from their pop-up entitled Bao You Like It. These warm, fluffy steamed buns are filled with all sorts of tasty goodness that are sure to suit your cravings after a day out on the hill.

This husband and wife team met while working at the Sonnenalp. With Yang being from China, the two had traveled there a few times, and Boland fell in love with the bao buns that are readily available as street food.

“Every morning on our trips to Beijing, we would go out and get some fresh bao buns for breakfast. When we got back to the U.S. and after a few weeks or months went by, I was craving some bao buns again and thought ‘We should make them at home.’ Once we started making them, I thought, “Well, maybe we should sell them’ and one thing led to another and here we are,” Boland said.

“Baozi” is a Chinese word, shortened to “bao,” and these steamed buns are a staple in Chinese cuisine. The dough has enough versatility that it goes with any kind of stuffing or tastes great being dipped in sauces. Boland and Yang started experimenting and after letting friends try them and then officially got the paperwork done to do pop-ups this summer.

“Neither one of us has specific culinary experience other than we are self-described foodies. And ironically, my first job as a 15-year-old in New Jersey was a dishwasher. So, if you count that, that was my first official job in a restaurant,” Boland said.

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Although Yang had worked front-of-the-house jobs in restaurants, their first experience in the kitchen was when they got their official commissary kitchen this summer. Yang also went back to China ta few months ago to become more formally trained in the art of making bao buns. She traveled to Chengdu, the capitol city of the Sichuan Province in southwestern China that is known for its rich history and vast culture.

“It’s a very popular city and some would say it’s the panda’s hometown,” Yang said. “Here, I took a week-long course learning from a three-generation bao bun master.” Yang learned about dough fermentation, shaping skills and the true spirit behind the bao bun. Yang also grew up with bao buns and the culture behind it’s 2,000-plus year history. There’s even an item on the menu called Grandma’s OG pork bao bun.

“Both of my grandparents made bao buns and it was common to give these to kids as they walked to school in the morning or give them some money to buy one on the streets on the way to school. Sometimes on a cold winter morning, the hot, fresh bao bun would come out of the store and it just attracts you so much, it’s a great memory of my grandparents,” Yang said.

Other items on the menu include the BBQ Cantonese pork, organic beef and celery, vegan options and plain bao buns for dipping.

“We make a a very flavorful, homemade chili oil, some people call it the chili crunch, for dipping. We mix olive oil and chili powder, a proprietary blend from China, and then we take fresh minced garlic and chopped green onions and we simmer them all in the oil and it’s delicious.,” Boland said.  

There are dessert bao buns on the menu, too.

“We serve a very traditional sweet bao with a red bean paste we call dou sha that’s very kid-friendly and it’s very healthy. It’s not super sweet like a traditional American dessert,” Yang said. Another dessert they are trying out is a bao made with peanuts, sesame and chocolate.

“We’re still experimenting with that dessert a little bit, so it’s not on the menu yet,” Boland said. “We usually offer it to our VIP guests and people that seem interested in the sweet options.” Other sweets include Boland’s famous chocolate chip cookies. Boland has been making them for over 15 years and has given dozens away to friends and coworkers and decided to add them to the menu.

You can find Bao You Like It serving bao at several pop-up locations and the list is growing: Sarah’s Lounge at the Christiania, The Sitzmark Hotel, 10th Mountain Whiskey Tasting Room Vail, Archetype Distillery, Vail Racquet Club. They were a fill-in vendor at the Minturn Market last year and their application has been accepted for the Vail Farmers’ Market and Art Show for this summer. You can also take home frozen bao buns and make them yourself.

“You can use anything from just a basic pot with a steamer basket on the stovetop or use a rice cooker with the steamer basket. I think a lot of air fryers nowadays have a steamer option, too,” Boland said.

What’s next for Bao You Like It?

“Hopefully some type of physical brick-and-mortar location,” Boland said. “But for the time being, we have our commissary kitchen in East Vail at the Après Cafe kitchen and we’re looking for different catering and private chef type of opportunities as well as trying to promote build-a-bao experiences. We bring our fillings and our dough to your kitchen, to your house, and your party guests can get their hands dirty and make their own bao. It’s lots of fun to fill your own and pick your favorite fillings.”