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One of Bao Buns best sellers, the Strawberry Nutella Bao is available at the Richmond Night Market.

Photo courtesy Bao Buns YVR

Bao Buns, crispy buns topped with dessert and more

By Matthew Cheung

Published 10:56 PDT, Fri June 23, 2023

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The Richmond Night Market is an exciting annual event perfect for small businesses to showcase their products, from different types of food to entertainment and games. Bao Buns is one of 110 food vendors present, selling deep fried buns topped with ice cream and fruit. 2023 marks the third year the vendor has been in business.

It all started when owner Yoseb Vardeh was having dinner with his friends a couple of years ago. He had gone to his favourite Chinese bakery for some Baos and realized after the dinner that there was one remaining. Vardeh had been craving something sweet and wanted to share it with his friends, so he decided to deep fry the Bao, adding ice cream and condensed milk to the dessert for he and his friends to share.

“I created Bao Buns during a dinner with friends. I had a bought some fresh Baos from my favourite Chinese bakery and had one left over. After dinner, I wanted something sweet we could all share and so I deep fried my bao, put my favourite ice cream and condensed milk, sprinkled some icing sugar and our Signature Bao Bun was born. My friends devoured it,” said Yoseb Vardeh, owner of Bao Buns.

That post-dinner experience with friends was what prompted Vardeh to open Boa Buns. Vardeh, had operated an old café but eventually opted to sell the business and began focusing on Bao Buns. The restaurant’s main goal is to make sure every customer they encounter leaves a little bit happier.

“There is so much going on in the world, sometimes it’s hard to enjoy the little things. At Bao Buns, our goal is to make sure you leave a little bit happier than when you came in,” said Vardeh.

For Vardeh, his focus is not just on becoming a great restaurant and making money, he wants to make people happy, his customers and employees. He accomplishes this by delivering good food to his customers and helping to create a work environment that makes work as fun and easy as possible.

“I wasn’t necessarily passionate about Baos, but making people feel happy is something that I value in my life. It just so happens, food is the key to most people’s hearts, good food can make the pressures of the world feel a bit lighter. I (also thrive to) create an environment people want to work in. I pride myself on paying above market wages and having a system to make the work of my employees as easy as possible. We encourage creativity and fun energy as that’s what I want to bring to my customers,” said Vardeh.

Vardeh believes that the most valuable thing in business is time, while money, fame, and a connected network are by products of a successful business. For future entrepreneurs, he advises that they should rewire their own value system, as focusing only those three things will be the reason your business fails.

“As an entrepreneur for nine years now, I think one of the most important things to do is (to) rewire your own value system. Money, fame, and a connected network are by products of a successful business. If you only focus on these three things, you will lose yourself and your reason to start a business. Personally, I value time, my time is the only thing I can’t ever get back that matters. If it saves you time, consider it more. Pay your employees properly and they will save you time, make your business efficient and it will save you time, time you can spend doing things you actually want to do, like spending time with family, friends, or things you are passionate about, everything will come naturally after,” said Vardeh.

The business hopes to open their store location by the end of the year followed by an additional two after. They will also be attending many summer events and in the Port Moody area this summer.

“Our goal is to launch our first store by the end of this year, and open two more after that. This is a fantastic business model with a great product. We are very cost efficient, and our process is quick to serve customers,” said Vardeh.

Bao Buns will be open at the Richmond Night Market at booth #F8. Hours of operation are Fridays 7 p.m. to midnight, Saturdays 6 p.m. to midnight, and Sundays 7 to 11 p.m.

For more information, visit baobunsyvr.com