Courtesy: https://www.worldofmouth.app/articles/norman-van-aken
Some months ago I was invited to be a featured contributor to the platform ‘World of Mouth’. When I checked it out I learned about chefs from all around the world. It is a good thing to get past our shores as vast as they are and see ‘what cooks’…
Courtesy: The fruit that changed Miami's food scene forever - Miami News Times
THE MANGO GANG The Mango Gang was born after a run on Miami Beach. The ‘pregnancy’ of course took much longer. But on a specific morning in 1992 I finished my run from 1440 Ocean Drive to Joe’s Stone Crab then back and returned panting to the steps of The…
The Ultimate Tex-Mex and BBQ Experience James Beard Award Winning Author and Co-Founder of ‘Saveur’ Magazine, Colman Andrews. “I’ve been doing food tours in Europe with Aborígens for four years, but this is the first time we’ve done one in the U.S. ‘Aborígens’ is a small but well-known enterprise that…
Hello Friends! I am happy to tell you all and invite you to the gala party we are having in Orlando on October 19th at ‘Osteria Ester’ the award winning restaurant in Orlando operated by the James Beard Award nominated company founded by Jason and Sue Chin, the powerhouse duo…
As the video will relate this has to do with a dish I created and I named, “My Down Island French Toast”. When I was a young chef coming up the French lauded delicacy of foie gras was not allowed in fresh form in the United States. This created a…
We’re on a mission to build a more sustainable, innovative, inclusive, and collaborative food & beverage industry. Lengua features an annual conference, exclusive pop-up dinners, and talks about food business, marketing, and innovation. —Nidal Barake 2026 marks the fifth anniversary of the food centric conference featuring food’s thought leaders, restaurateurs,…
Howdy All! I recently joined The Trotter Project as the newest Board Member. I have posted on this great organization before and no doubt will again. In the process of joining I met a very bright professional who is also part of it. Her name is Sarah Perkins. In addition…
From The Jacques Pépin Foundation. A recap! February 18, 2025 at Sereia in Miami, FL Diners at the beautiful Sereia restaurant were treated to an incredible six-course meal crafted by Miami’s top chefs, including Henrique Sá Pessoa, Norman Van Aken, Miguel Massens, Michael Beltran, Danny Ganem, Michael Schwartz, and Soraya Caraccioli-Kilgore. The menu of dishes inspired by Jacques…
At our restaurant, “NORMAN’S” in Orlando we continue with the tradition I began years ago in Key West and then continued as we grew. We recently celebrated our Second Anniversary at the new location just off Sand Lake Road. As many of you know we were located within the Grande…
A podcast hosted by award winning longtime journalist and radio personality Linda Gassenheimer titled, “Food News and Views” is available here at the link. On it Linda interviewed the Chef de Cuisine 0f ‘Sereia’ restaurant Miguel Massens in Coconut Grove as well as me regarding the upcoming Jacques Pépin Foundation…
Where to begin? For now let’s start with present tense. This month I became the newest Board Member of The Trotter Project. You can copy and paste from below and put that in your browser. It will show you how the vision of Chef Charlie Trotter continues to flourish despite…
Somehow, I came across a book titled, “Catalan Cuisine” just at the right moment of my career. I was at a point where I knew it was time to dig deeper into the mother countries of where I was living, Key West. It might seem like a curious thing to…
I receive a newsletter titled, ‘Literary Hub’. Though I admire it, I often quickly scan it because I’m typically crushed for time. Who isn’t these days? But I saw that there was an interview with the excellent writer Marlon James on the topic of Bob Dylan. The excerpt that spoke…
ON ‘THE TASTE OF THINGS’. A FILM TO SAVOR I saw a trailer for a film with this title, and it affected me like a delicious amuse bouche. I knew I must have the rest of this ‘meal’ from the gifted creators who brought it to movie screens. I told…
ON TOAST Few things makes me take notice I’m in a different town than the one we live in than the sound of a freight train lowing in the distance. The horn, the cadence of the wheels, the bumping mechanical rumble of the boxcars all takes me on a journey…
For many years Chef FERDINAND METZ was the President of the vaunted Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. Over my ‘coming up the ladder’ years, I met and worked with many graduates of that school. They uniformly respected him. Some spoke with a mix of awe and…
