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A small Huntington bakery with a foreign flair is enjoying some national recognition. The Nomada Bakery in Huntington’s Heritage Station is USA Today’s “Best Cake Shop in the U.S.,” receiving the publication’s 10 Best Reader’s Choice Award.
Owner and head baker Ariel Barcenas said the award came as a complete surprise.
“We just got an email,” Barcenas said. “At first, obviously, I did not know what that meant that much. It was just the nomination, but immediately the whole community got super excited.”
Nomada is nomad in Spanish. Barcenas said his bakery name – and culinary creations are rooted in his native Panama and South American upbringing.
“I was born in Panama, then I moved to go to college in Argentina,” Barcenas said. “Then I lived in Brazil, and now I’m here in West Virginia. The menu of the bakery is composed of a little bit of all those travels and those experiences. On top of that, we are located at the Visitor Center in Heritage Station, which is the old train station, a place for travelers.”
Barcenas said his inspiration comes from his grandmother’s Panama kitchen. He said Nomada’s mission is to bake classic items with real ingredients, like the native Alfajores Cookie that she once made.
“Alfajores are a South American treat that is like a coarse shortbread cookie filled with a delicious something that’s very simple,” he said. “It’s like the best companion for coffee. When you are in South America, in most coffee shops, you get a little treat next to your coffee. And people love them.”
Photo by Randy Yohe/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Barcenas said the coffee served with his many diverse pastries is exclusively imported from Panama. He said customers who eat at the bakery get their menu items plated on a variety of fine china, some of the cups and plates served with local, sentimental value.
“They are vintage dishes that have come from everywhere,” Barcenas said. “We have some donations from people in the community, wedding china, people that inherit their China from their grandmas. Many customers then come back and they happen to be eating on dishes that used to belong to family members.”
Nomada also serves savory pastries and other dishes. Barcenas said those items also have a South American flair.
We make empanadas, kind of like a hand pie – a street food from Latin America,” he said. “We have seven different flavors, some vegetarian and vegan, and then our croissants. We just started putting very traditional, classic flavors in our handmade croissants.”
Barcenas said the USA Today award has made a big impact on his small baking enterprise.
“We have got a lot of visitors from out of town, and even local people that did not know that we were here,” He said. “We have seen a huge increase in the amount of guests that we receive here at Heritage Station every day.”
When asked what he sees for the future of the bakery, the thin Panamanian/West Virginia baker with the big smile answered very simply.
“More Nomada for everyone.” he said.