Jiajun “Bruno” Yin working in his restaurant Bateau Vide on a break from school. Photos courtesy of Yin

Food

BU Student Leads a Restaurant—from Almost 7,000 Miles Away

Jiajun “Bruno” Yin (CGS’24, CAS’26) draws on his psychology major to inform his work as a business owner and manager

Jiajun “Bruno” Yin is your typical college student. He goes to class, does his homework, and hangs out with friends. But for most of his college experience, he’s also been opening and running a restaurant in his hometown of Yinchuan, China. 

Yin (CGS’24, CAS’26) grew up in Yinchuan—which he describes as a small city compared to others in China—before moving to Minnesota to study abroad for middle and high school. When he got into BU, he was excited to experience life in a city in the US, and even more excited that the College of General Studies required a gap semester, during which he could travel back to China and explore on motorcycle the country he left as a child. 

When he got home, Yin’s father had a question. 

“My dad asked me, what do I want to do in the future?” Yin remembers. “I said, ‘Well, it’s always been a dream for me to open a cafe.’”

Yin had become passionate about coffee during his time in the US. He spent his gap semester biking across China, visiting cafes in different cities. When he finished his trip, Yin had a plan. 

“I have very generous parents,” Yin says. “So after that trip, I told my dad I wanted to start a cafe. I did the whole business analysis thing, and then had a report for my dad.”

Yin’s father invested in his business—even though neither of them had any experience in the restaurant industry—and they found a location for a new restaurant in Yinchuan, the capital of the Ningxia region. Within a year and a half, and between semesters at BU and studying abroad in London, Yin started his restaurant. 

Named Bateau Vide, a French phrase meaning Empty Boat, the spot serves Western-style food with French inspiration, while still catering to Eastern dining customs. The name is inspired by a Chinese philosophy that an empty boat floating on the river isn’t meant for anyone in particular, but rather there to be used by whoever needs it. Yin says his “restaurant isn’t meant for anyone [in particular], but whoever comes is welcome and can find [their] own meanings, joys and soul in it.”

The menu features favorites like beef short rib slow-cooked in pumpkin and a twist on shakshuka (a North African egg dish) with crusty bread. It’s decorated with motorcycles—reminiscent of Yin’s inspirational trip—and equipped with a state-of-the-art coffee and drinks bar. The restaurant’s interiors are desert-inspired, as Yinchuan is in a desert climate. 

From Boston, Yin spends a lot of his time researching for his business. He’s constantly looking for new ideas, learning from those with more experience, drawing inspiration from restaurants in bigger cities, and paying attention to food trends. For instance, he says he might soon incorporate into the menu Dubai chocolate, a chocolate bar containing a filling made with kadayif and pistachio, which went viral earlier this year thanks to social media influencers.

Yin has regular meetings with his head chef, dad, and manager over Zoom from Boston. The restaurant’s manager runs the day-to-day operations while Yin is away—but Yin says he makes the major business decisions. At the beginning of every week, Yin lays out any menu changes, seasonal updates, or upcoming events the restaurant is hosting, and he holds a monthly recap meeting for the staff to reflect. 

Yin’s restaurant sees most of its business in the summer, when Yin can be there in person. But running a restaurant far from home still has its challenges. 

Bateau Vide’s twist on Shakshuka (left), and beef short rib slow-cooked in pumpkin.

“Because you are physically farther away, you do not get to sit in your restaurant to build a closer friendship with your clients,” Yin says. “That’s something that’s valued in a hometown.”

None of the people working in Bateau Vide’s bar knew anything about coffee when Yin met them, he says. So he flew in professionals with precise knowledge about coffee and cocktails to teach his employees their skills. 

“That’s something I took a risk on,” Yin says. “I had the choice of hiring brand-new people or hiring those who had beautiful work experience and perfect resumes…but I’m trying to hire people with a good soul, and if they don’t know anything about coffee, I can teach them.”

Yin’s background in psychology has helped him make informed decisions like these and has also benefited his business overall. “We try to make sure everyone gets a weekend off, just small details like that,” Yin says. “To treat people with dignity and integrity, to treat them like family, and they actually are more loyal than you could ever think.”

He says that in the future he would love to franchise his restaurant, even as he plans to pursue a master’s or doctoral degree in psychology after graduating from BU this December. 

Still, to Yin, his restaurant is about community. He says his favorite places to eat are always the ones where he can connect with the people who work there, so making his restaurant a hub for community, even from afar, is his priority. 

“We live in the same city, we share a lot of common ground… we feel like a family,” Yin says. “Unlike a bigger corporation, I am able to adjust my own rules.”