Nothing makes us happier than seeing a fresh new food concept come to town. In the past year, Bing Bing (Chinese crepes), BLK MKT Eats (sushi burritos), Crispy Edge (potstickers), DD Mau (quick serve Vietnamese fare), Poke Doke (poke bowls), and Soup Dumplings STL (hot soup encased in dumplings), among others.
One of the more intriguing is the BAO, which opened on Monday in the former Coastal Bistro & Bar space (14 N. Central), along one of Clayton’s busiest streets.
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Since there were no local establishments focusing strictly on baozi (Chinese steamed buns), the owners could have stuffed gua bao (the familiar, fold-over, lily-white steamed bun) in a dozen ways and been done with it.
But founder and executive chef RJ Xu had a better idea. He spent a year researching the increasingly popular Chinese staple, traveling to London, Paris, Hong Kong, and across the United States, taking notes along the way. Concurrently, he developed a signature recipe for bao dough, which he and general manager Benjamin Bauer say is the best they ever tasted.
Then, in an “East meets West” approach, the duo designed the counter-service bao menu around familiar American carriers, such as a steamed, grilled, and branded split-top roll (similar to a lobster roll), a top and bottom version (think hamburger bun) with six variations, and, in a nod to tradition, “little bao” (picture mini kolache)—encapsulated round buns filled with curries and savories, “little pockets of utter goodness,” as Bauer calls them.
Fillings are traditional (char siu and kakuni) and Americanized (Angus and wagyu with egg), along with a few unexpected offerings, such as Truffle Shroom (a gouda-stuffed, panko-fried portabella), which Bauer describes as simultaneously “melty, savory, crunchy, and delicious.”
Other winners include a Maine-style brown butter poached lobster roll (or $18, which is less expensive than most places in Connecticut and Maine) and a panko-breaded soft shell crab bao.
At breakfast, bao gets sliced and toasted, fashioned into beignets and Taiwanese crullers, and served with baked eggs. An early favorite is what Bauer calls “baoscuits and gravy” (but he refrained from referring to the Millennial fave as “baovacado toast”).
At breakfast and lunch, items are ordered sushi style (with a pencil and sheets of paper) and typically ready in five minutes or less. Bauer says the BAO was designed so that busy Clayton diners “can order, eat, and be on their way in 20 minutes.”
The lunch menu includes soups, salads, bowls, and other-worldly snacks, such as the intensely flavored, steamed-then-fried Laab Wings, which are dry-seasoned with lemongrass, kaffir lime, Thai chilies, and roasted rice powder.
Bauer says the BAO’s gears will shift to table service in the evening, with finer dishes and smaller plates. Bao will serve as garnishments and accompaniments, and there will be “an eccentric wine list”—a concept that he calls “izakaya-style dining meets fine cocktail bar.”
For a dessert or snack, consider an Asian-flavored (Green Tea or Black Sesame) Serendipity ice cream sandwich or a treat with mango ice cream, mango sticky rice, and coconut sauce (pictured above).
The décor is a mix of design elements that somehow seem to work: light-colored tabletops, mid-century American furniture, and shades of grey that Xu observed while traveling. (“The color was everywhere,” he says).
Matching trim and molding, as well as gilded mirrors, decorate the walls. Two existing paintings were refinished in place and now resemble fogged mirrors. The BAO seats 50 across a series of small-but-distinct seating areas, as well as six sidewalk tables.
During the day, the beverage emphasis is on coffee (drip, pour-over, and cold brew), tea, and several varieties of soy milk. (Taiwanese crullers are served traditionally, with soy milk, for sipping and dunking.) Topo Chico, or Mexican mineral water (a mixologist’s best friend due to its larger, more binding bubbles), is available as well and destined to play a larger role when Bauer rolls out a cocktail program to coincide with dinner service, which will commence soon.
Bauer, the former lead mixologist at The Libertine, met Xu at Sushi Station in Webster Groves, where the latter worked. “Every Christmas Eve my family—about 25 of us—ordered a ton of sushi for pick up, so RJ definitely knew us,” Bauer jokes. “It was kismet that I got together with him when I did, right after The Libertine closed. Asian cuisine is my thing. If I ever wanted to do something on my own, it would have been exactly this.”
