London’s favourite purveyor of Taiwanese food, BAO London, is partnering with Dover Street Market (DSM) to celebrate the Year of the Dragon. The pop-up kiosk inside DSM’s London flagship runs until 11 February 2024 and features signature BAO baked goods, exclusive DSM x BAO products, and a one-of-a-kind installation.
Dover Street Market x BAO pop-up
BAO began in 2015, when three friends, Shing Tat Chung, Erchen Chang and Wai Ting Chung (all who were under 30 at the time) decided to open a restaurant in Soho, following the wild success of their bao bun food stall in Hackney.
The restaurant was an instant success, with people lining up to get a taste of their pillowy buns stuffed with delectable fillings (fried chicken, braised pork, battered daikon) and served in a picture-perfect, wood-panelled space. Flash forward to 2024 and the ‘BAOverse’ has expanded to include eight restaurants, an in-house interior design studio, and its own line of alcoholic drinks, tableware (plus a nakiri knife with Allday Goods), and sauces.
Each of BAO’s restaurants has a different focus (Shoreditch is a noodle shop, Bao Mary in Marylebone is a dumpling house) but they all maintain the original ethos of the brand – serving exceptional Taiwanese food in well-designed, casual spaces.
Every year, BAO does something special to celebrate Lunar New Year, and this year will see the cult restaurant group partnering with fellow cult outlets Carhartt WIP and DSM for the holiday. At a pop-up stall in DSM, BAO will sell Carhartt designed T-shirts featuring BAO’s signature Lonely Man illustration with a special curving dragon tattoo across his back. There will also be bags, shoes and hats designed in partnership with Simone Rocha, SHUSHU/TONG and Deathmask, alongside exclusive, BAO-designed merch that includes sweatshirts, umbrellas decorated with men bouncing bao buns, limited-edition dragon baseball caps, Year of the Dragon wall calendars and a custom-made engraved Dragon Zippo lighter.
Visitors to the pop-up can also purchase cupboard items from the restaurant’s online convenience store, such as its signature house sauces, Emergency Noodles, Weeping Sake, Oolong Gin and Umeshu Negroni.
BAO will also be hosting a number of exciting events online and in its eight restaurant locations. These kick off with a giveaway of Classic Bao bun on 5 February at 11am, with hundreds of traditional buns, stuffed with 12-hour braised pork, fermented greens and peanut powder, will be given out for free in celebration of the year ahead.
Its traditional Lucky Red Envelopes will also make a reappearance, giving customers the chance to win anything from a free bubble milk tea to a year of the BAO on the house. And finally, a big win for BAO aficionados will be the limited-edition run of its Made By You boxes, which were launched in lockdown as a way for customers to recreate their favourite BAO dishes from home.
Speaking about the various celebratory activities, co-founder and creative director Erchen Chang says, ‘Lunar New Year is always an exciting time at BAO, stemming from our childhood new years in Taiwan when we would peep inside red envelopes to see which relatives were being generous! This year, we’re looking forward to spreading prosperity for the Year of the Dragon by encouraging everyone to “eat gua BAO for good luck”, whether that’s in our Classic BAOgiveaway or by booking a feasting menu in one of our private dining rooms.’
The pop-up kiosk runs from 25 January to 11 February inside Dover Street’s London flagship
-
Community spirit, history and resilience: inside this year's Liverpool Biennale2025's Liverpool Biennale takes the foundations of the city as its theme
-
Inside the brilliant and short career of Paul Thek: 'The goal was to live a creative existence as a maker – and he lived in a saint-like fashion'Paul Thek's paintings are now viewable at Thomas Dane Gallery in London, in an exhibition curated by Kenny Schacter and Jonathan Anderson.
-
What is Aufguss? Part sauna, part panto, why this group ritual is good for youOur resident sauna authority Emma O'Kelly tries ‘Show Aufguss’, an extreme take on the trending wellness ritual that's designed to encourage a health-boosting collective high
-
Mark your calendars for Mount Street Neighbourhood Summer Festival, a feast for the sensesThe event, 12-14 June 2025, showcases the mix of food, art and community in the heart of London’s Mayfair. Here's what to expect, from afternoon tea to aperitivo, film screenings to biodynamic flowers
-
Healthy chocolate? Eat it at Makers, London’s new Lebanese chocolatierLocated in Chelsea, Makers is a new ‘healthy chocolate’ shop offering treats free of refined sugar, seed oils, wheat and dairy – and it tastes delicious
-
Sketch transforms into an English garden in celebration of Jane Austen’s 250th birthdayThe 11th edition of ‘Sketch in Bloom’ nods to the most notable works of Jane Austen with budding floral installations and a quintessentially English afternoon tea
-
At the Regent Street Sensorium, architectural jelly sculptures are designed to ignite the sensesDelve into the history of London’s Regent Street through a jellyscape, a fragrance cloud and more – plus, for the event’s final week, two new immersive workshops (ends 27 April)
-
Burns Night 2025: where to celebrate in LondonIt is time to raise a wee dram to Scotland’s national poet Robert Burns on Burns Night (25 January). Here is our pick of places to enjoy an evening of generous speechmaking, toasting, and drinking around London
-
Grand English glamour vs the Italian dolce vita? Why Il Pellicano's Claridge’s takeover is a sun-kissed delightClaridge's welcomes Hotel Il Pellicano with open arms for a one week restaurant residency of laid back luxury and Tuscan charm
-
Lunar New Year in London: where to celebrate the Year of the Wood SnakeDo you want a year of good fortune and happiness? Then it is time to tuck into some of London’s cult favourite hotspots, devour decadent treats, and toast the Lunar New Year, and we have you covered with our guide to all things going on in the city (from 29 January until 8 February 2025)
-
Celebrate Día de los Muertos at one of London (and the world’s) finest Mexican restaurantsDía de los Muertos will arrive at KOL in Marylebone on 2 November, with a collaborative menu including dishes from the chefs behind Endo at The Rotunda to The Connaught, wrapped up with a mezcal fiesta
