Jose Rojas founded Big Booty Bread Co. in 2005 inspired by his roots in Latin American culture and his insatiable taste for baked goods. As just one bite into any of the bakery’s signature products will reveal, from guava turnovers, dulce de leche cupcakes and peanut butter cookies to freshly baked bread and croissants, Jose Rojas possess more than the know-how to bake—it is a skill born from within.

Indeed, Jose started Big Booty Bread Co. as a spin off of his parent’s long-standing bakery, Don Ricky’s. His father and mother, immigrants from Colombia, founded the bakery over 30 years ago in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and it remains there today as a testament to his family’s knack for baking. From infancy, Jose spent more time inside the bakery than at home or even school and fittingly, the delectable sights, fresh smells and warm atmosphere from the bakery found it’s way into his very soul. The result today can be found in the mouth-watering aroma along 23rdStreet in Chelsea, between 7th an 8thavenue emanating from Big Booty Bread Co.

The path to Big Booty wasn’t always clearly laid out for Jose. He studied finance at Tulane University and when he graduated, immediately began the daily grind on Wall Street as a trader. Years of this lifestyle passed and Jose felt unfulfilled and began looking back to the familiar world of baking. One fortuitous afternoon, he walked by a storefront on 23rd street adorned with a “For Rent” sign, and instantaneously knew what he had to do. It was at that moment that Jose decided to leave the staid atmosphere of Wall Street for the perennially fresh air of a bakery. 

After six months of preparing the business with the help of his close friends and family, Big Booty Bread opened, offering a variety of classic American and Latin baked goods with the freshness and TLC only found in small independent and artesian retailers. Each morning, the bread and sweets are freshly baked with local goods and an expert hand. Aware of many people’s allergies to flour, the bakery even offers some classic gluten-free Latin goods that have traditionally been made with yucca flour rather than wheat flour.