Nomada Bakery celebrates 5 years of serving a taste of South America in Huntington

HUNTINGTON, WV (WOWK) – For a taste of South America in the Tri-State, look no further than the Nomada Bakery in Huntington.

Ariel Barcenas just celebrated five years of business at the Nomada Bakery. He was born and raised in Panama before attending college in Argentina. He bakes one of Huntington’s sweetest recipes in town – the alfajor cookie sandwich – as well as a wide variety of empanadas.

Barcenas moved to Huntington ten years ago after his husband was offered a job at Marshall University.

“I came here without many plans. Obviously a lot of work, a lot of organization,” Barcenas said. “A lot of opportunities, and the area was for me.”

Barcenas said it took some time to adjust to West Virginia, but he said he feels right at home.

“I know most of the customers who come every day,” Barcenas said. “It is definitely a drastic and very big change. Buenos Aires and Panama City are very big. But it was also really easy…It also felt like a community of small places like this.”

As Barcenas settled into the area, he took jobs serving tables and working in Huntington kitchens and restaurants. It quickly became his passion, and from there, he saved up enough money to buy his own brick-and-mortar café in Cabell County, serving Latin American cuisine for a new audience.

“I really miss the things I ate when I was a child,” Barcenas said. “In West Virginia, there is not much representation of food diversity. Also, in Latin America, it is not just one country. There are so many different types of foods and so many different ways of using the same ingredients in each country. They have small differences.”

While home may be 4000 miles away, Barcenas has settled right into Huntington. He found his own tightly-knit community and serves some of his favorite home-cooked sweets in his new home.

He said when he travels around the world, he draws inspiration from global food cultures to add his own menu.

“I think most of the products that we’ve gone here to Huntington in one way are things that we’ve tried somewhere else and people in Huntington would love that. They don’t eat it because they don’t know it,” Barcenas said. “The alfajores and all the things we serve have been very well received by the community.”

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