La Central Bakery & Cafe opens downtown with family its strongest foundation

WORCESTER – For Jessica Ortiz, memories and business are best built with family.

On Thursday, she officially opened La Central Bakery & Café on Main Street, a Puerto Rican-style bakery, with her husband, Jose Rohena.

The inspiration to do so came from memories she shared with her grandmother Tomasa during the years Ortiz spent growing up in Orocovis, Puerto Rico.

“My grandmother used to take me every day at (6 p.m.) to get some pastries and some fresh bread at bakeries, which in Orocovis are at every spot,” said Ortiz. “When I moved here 25 years ago, there were barely any places where I could get Puerto Rican bread.

“The idea for a bakery was since then in the back of my mind.”

Upon entering the bakery, the menu that Ortiz and Rohena serve to their customers greets with the aromas of fresh coffee, pastries and sandwiches.

The many different breads, all of which originate from many Spanish-speaking countries like Puerto Rico, Mexico and Colombia, make up the bulk of the menu such as pan de agua and pan sobao, which are the most popular.

While pan sobao, the sweet bread, would be “best for breakfast,” lunchtime sandwiches such as the Tripleta sandwiches (with chicken, pork and ham) and the Pernil (the pork sub) also stand out in the menu.

As of Thursday, when they officially opened, they added piña coladas and loaded fries (with pork, ham and chicken) to their menu.

Where the magic happens

But the magic really happens in the back kitchen at La Central, where every morning Ortiz’s mother and sister make the dough fresh.

Ortiz hopes that the staff will expand as the work has proved to be too much for her mother and her sister, who is pursuing a degree in nursing.

“Even if I start bringing in people from the outside the family, this will remain a family business,” said Ortiz. “It started with our family, and it will always have the family foundation in it.”

Ortiz made the decision to open the store last summer, when she left her job as an accountant after about 10 years to then take up the storefront at 422 Main St.

Along with Rohena, they spent two months renovating with the help of Ortiz’s father including painting over the green and yellow that the walls had inherited from Subway, who years ago had been the previous occupants of the location.

But the hard work does not bother Rohena, who considers himself a man made for it.

Despite being at the bakery from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day of the week, he thinks of the shop as just a job, where he shows up in the morning and forgets about when he goes home at night.

It’s a work ethic that he has forged while working since his teenage years in pizzerias around Worcester, where he moved with his family at 12 from his native Puebla, Mexico.

Growing up in the kitchen

“My dad used to work at Golden Pizza, and I’d tag along with him doing the same work,” said Rohena. “That’s how I learned the food business.

“I grew up in the kitchen.”

Rohena says that he knows the food industry also from establishing and previously owning Kokoriko’s Pizza & Fried Chicken and Roasted Peppers Pizza for around two to three years each.

As for La Central, he jokingly says that he just shows up to do the work as it was his wife’s ambition to have the bakery.

“This is all her dream,” said Ortiz.

John MacWade, who lives on Sever Street, takes the bus every morning to stop by La Central.

With familial warmth, Ortiz greets him by his first name as he walks through the front door Wednesday morning to grab a sugar doughnut and a Snapple – his usual.

“Jessica is very friendly and I always feel welcomed here,” said MacWade.

Ortiz said that the bakery has had a great draw among the Spanish-speaking community in the area, which has given them a lift during the first month and a half of a soft opening.

Despite that, she said that the food is for people of all backgrounds to appreciate.

Maritza Reyes, whose family is from Puerto Rico, says that the bakery brings a sense of the traditional bites that the city otherwise doesn’t have.

It’s not uncommon to see her walk through the door in the mornings beside her father to get a breakfast sandwich — specifically the bacon egg and cheese in a pan de agua.

“The service and how friendly they are makes people very comfortable,” said Reyes, “and the food of course - a lot of the food that you get here you don’t find at other bakeries.”

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Puerto Rican bakery La Central Bakery & Cafe opens in Worcester