A new bakery case filled with ube cookies, leche flan, cassava cake and silvanas has landed at 240 Newark Street in downtown Jersey City, where Sinta — a name that translates to “love” in Tagalog — has opened its doors. The shop is an expansion from Tina Rivera, the founder of Hoboken’s Baking Mama, and marks her first storefront dedicated specifically to Filipino-rooted baking.
According to Hoboken Girl, Sinta is described as a Filipino-rooted bakery in downtown Jersey City, and the shop previewed its offerings at this year’s All About Downtown Street Fair before its storefront debut. A separate account from destinationjerseycity.com frames the launch as a soft opening, noting that “this soft opening is just the beginning,” while another report from the same outlet states the team behind Baking Mama has officially expanded its footprint by opening Sinta Bakery on Newark Street — two slightly different snapshots of the same rollout.
From Corporate Banking to a Hoboken Bakeshop
Rivera's path to Sinta runs through Baking Mama, the business she and her family started at 88 Hudson Street in Hoboken in December 2015. Per the Hoboken Girl account, she traded a career in banking for full-time baking that same month, having continued baking for family, friends and her church community while still working a full-time corporate job. Baking Mama began by focusing on French macarons that Rivera sold at fairs and markets before the shop expanded its selection to include cookies, cupcakes and made-to-order cakes at customers' request.
The Hoboken shop itself still offers cookies, macarons, cupcakes and other small-batch desserts, and it's recognized as a family-owned, AAPI-owned and woman-owned business, per the same account. Rivera's baking has drawn outside recognition too: her work was featured on The Drew Barrymore Show, where one of her holiday cookies was named “Hallelujah It's Raining Mint!”; Yelp separately ranked Rivera as making New Jersey's best chocolate chip cookie.
Bringing Filipino Flavors to the Case
At Sinta, Rivera has introduced Filipino-inspired treats including ube cookies, leche flan, cassava cake and silvanas — delicate treats made with cashew meringue wafers and buttercream. That shift draws on her own roots and training: Rivera took baking classes in the Philippines, including with Sylvia Reynoso Gala and Chocolate Lovers in Cubao, building on skills she first picked up in 1994, a few months before her son was born.
The new menu lands in a neighborhood where Filipino baking already has deep roots. Jersey City is described as a vibrant hub for the Filipino community and home to many beloved Filipino restaurants and bakeries, according to nj.com. Philippine Bread House, located at 530 Newark Avenue, has long sold Filipino staples like ensaymada, mamon, pan de coco and pan de ube alongside custom cakes, per its own website.
A Crowded, Hungry Market for Filipino Baking
Sinta also arrives amid a wider wave of interest in Filipino baking around the city. Panaderya Salvajē, which blends European pastries with traditional Filipino ingredients, reportedly saw a three-hour wait on its opening day that settled into an average wait of 90 minutes afterward, nj.com reported. That shop had operated as a pop-up around Jersey City for years before launching its brick-and-mortar space in August, according to jerseydigs.com, which also notes the business would regularly sell out of many of its items before close.
Rivera isn't stopping at Newark Street. Baking Mama has another Jersey City location planned in the Heights, at 333 Palisade Avenue — a project Hoboken Girl first reported in June. As of the most recent reporting, there is no official opening timeline for that Heights shop just yet, leaving Sinta as the brand's first fully realized Jersey City storefront for now.
