‘I was born to do this’: Chef Kattia Rojas spreads love of Costa Rican culture, cuisine through Buen Provecho

Kattia Rojas knew little English when she attended Central New Mexico Community College to further her education and pursue her dream of opening a food truck — but she wasn’t going to let that stop her.

“The first day I went to school, I was in a panic because I didn’t know if I (would) understand,” Rojas said. “But I didn’t care. My chef instructors, who now are my customers — they remember me really well because I asked about everything, even though they didn’t understand me.”

The Albuquerque chef learned what she needed to learn by confidently repeating herself as many times as necessary. Later, a friend from the program confirmed to Rojas that everyone had a hard time understanding her — to which she responded with a laugh: “I didn’t care. I needed to graduate.”

Rojas graduated from CNM’s culinary program in 2015, but she never opened a food truck. Instead, she went straight from farmers markets to the restaurant business, opening Buen Provecho in 2018.

‘Living the pura vida’

The restaurant, situated inside El Vado Motel on Central Avenue, is known for its authentic and affordble Costa Rican cuisine. Some dishes include bowls of rice, black beans, plantains and the customer’s meat of choice, known as casado; a sandwich with meat, pico de gallo and garlic cilantro aioli slaw; and Costa Rican-style tamales — very different from New Mexican tamales.

The Costa Rican take on the local favorite involves smoked banana leaves rather than corn husks, a masa made of mixed corn and potatoes, and a stuffing of slow-cooked meat, rice, chickpeas, peas and carrots.

Buen Provecho also offers sides of sweet fried plantains, empanadas and yuca fries, as well as 30 flavors of cakes, which — along with the food — are prepared fresh daily.

“If you go to Costa Rica, you find the same dishes that you have in here,” Rojas said, adding that the cuisine and menu reflects “living the pura vida.” Pura vida is a popular Costa Rican phrase meaning to “live life very simple,” Rojas said.

As the only dedicated Costa Rican restaurant in Albuquerque, Rojas said people tell her all the time that her food reminds them of times they visited or lived in the Central American country, which is bordered by Nicaragua and Panama.

“That really makes my day,” said Rojas, who is originally from Costa Rica. She primarily lived in the central part of the country in the capital city of San José but also spent some time in the northern city of Liberia and the eastern Caribbean-facing city of Limón.

‘I was born to do this’

Rojas migrated from Costa Rica to the United States at age 25 in 2000. After studying marketing in Costa Rica, her ambition was to work for a big international company. But their first hiring requirement was to speak English. The opportunity to immigrate opened up when her uncle, who operated a machinery company in New Jersey, was seeking a babysitter.

“I say, ‘Uncle, I need that job,’” Rojas said. “He said, ‘Kattia, you’ve never changed (a) diaper.’ I said, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll do it. You just pay me whatever you want and give me the ticket.’”

Learning English took a little longer than she anticipated, so she started saving money to extend her stay and eventually asked her uncle to hire her at his company. He did, and that’s where Rojas met her husband of 26 years, William Rojas, who is also from Costa Rica.

The pair ended up moving to Colorado in 2002, drawn by an opportunity to operate a large ranch property. Rojas’ portion of the operation included cooking — something she had never done before.

“I come from a very traditional family, (where) grandma and mom cook for you. I was just passionate about tasting,” Rojas said with a laugh.

Even still, the cooking process came naturally and almost spontaneously to Rojas, who started catering for large events at the ranch and quickly fell in love with sharing her Costa Rican roots and flavors with others.

“I decided I want to do this the rest of my life, and I’m so grateful that God put me in this country, because I think in Costa Rica, I would (have) never cook(ed),” Rojas said. “I think I was born to do this.”

For the love of sharing

Rojas’ catering business eventually led her and her family to relocate to Albuquerque in 2010. She launched her first restaurant with help from CNM, and it’s stayed busy since.

Strong community support for the El Vado restaurant led to recognition from the James Beard Foundation in 2025, when Rojas was nominated for the Best Chef award in the Southwest category. The nomination was a “wonderful” shock, she said — tripling Buen Provecho’s sales last year.

Now, she’s expanding the business with help from another local entity: the Street Food Institute.

The institute is a nonprofit that supports entrepreneurs running a food service business with classes and resources including a rentable commissary kitchen known as the Central Barelas Kitchen.

While using the kitchen one day to make tamales, Rojas inquired about a freshly built space just next door. Program coordinator and chef Julian Griego said it was available and asked if she wanted it.

“‘Of course!’” Rojas said, citing the “charming” quality of the Barelas neighborhood.

The Barelas location opened on the corner of Fourth and Barelas SW in late January. Rojas and her team prepare a set amount of food for the restaurant in the Central Barelas Kitchen and walk it over to the space every day.

The location has received a warm reception from community members, many of whom visit the business after seeing Rojas’ savory food posts on Facebook and Instagram. The chef and owner said social media has played a “huge role” in building the restaurant’s customer base, particularly among a younger generation of Burqueños “excited to try new things.”

The second location came in especially helpful to one Buen Provecho regular who always orders the chicharron platter with a slice of cake for dessert. When the El Vado location sold out of cake one recent day, the gentleman simply made the seven-minute journey to the Barelas location to fulfill his sweet craving.

“Food is wonderful because it’s part of your soul and your memory,” Rojas said. “I feel very grateful and blessed to be doing this.”

While the community support, awards and recognition have meant the world, they aren’t the motivation for Rojas — who diligently tastes everything that is prepared for the restaurants and doesn’t go to bed a single night without thinking about the hard work in store for the next day.

“It’s because I want to share where I come from and the wonderful food I grew up with,” Rojas said.

“Nothing has been easy,” she continued. “You have to have a certain personality to own a restaurant because it’s hard work. But it’s what I was born (to do). I come with joy because God gave me this, so I enjoy every single minute of being here and offering you my food.”

Kylie Garcia covers retail and real estate for the Journal. You can reach her at kgarcia@abqjournal.com.