Honoring Ben Rojo (@benrojo) 🇵🇭 Ben Rojo is a part of the modern Bar Scene's fabric; it's soul. A bold-faced notable name credited to his talent and skill, sure, but it is the genuine love you feel from Ben's hospitality is what he is most known for - and why he is beloved around the world by many your favorite bartender icons. Bartender, Operator, and Bar Owner whose influence has shaped the modern cocktail bar culture from New York to Los Angeles - Ben Rojo inherited his love of service from his family and his heritage. “My parents taught me that family isn’t just blood, it’s who you feed, who you dance with, who you drive home at the end of the night."A veteran of New York’s hospitality scene and Owner of No Smoking @nosmokingbar in LA, Ben has spent two decades both behind bars and building them.
From chatting up guests, crafting cocktail menus, hob-nobing with industry vets, and mentoring new bartenders, Ben is re-imagining how a bar can function as a home for its community.His upcoming project, June Baby @junebaby.nyc, with Roxanne Bangalan and Darwin Pornel, will be a joint homage to shared Filipino culture and hospitality.For Ben, hospitality isn’t just a career, it’s his culture, heritage, and inheritance. Raised in a Filipino home where food was the language of love, he learned early on from his family that to serve is to truly see people. That every act of care is an act of love and a quiet offering of community.From the late-night kitchens of his youth to karaoke-filled family gatherings, Ben carries forward the Filipino values that built him: generosity, conviviality, and inclusion. Behind the bar, he continues that same tradition — feeding connection, hosting joy, and making sure no one is left out of the party.As both a leader and a storyteller, Ben represents a generation redefining hospitality not as performance but as sincerity. His work reminds us that bars can be more than places to drink, they can be spaces of care, culture, and belonging.Here’s to Filipino strength, to found family, and to the people like Ben Rojo who continue to shape the soul of our industry. 🇵🇭
