Courtesy: Orlando Sentinel Norman Van Aken is an accomplished chef, recipient of a multitude of James Beard acknowledgments among other culinary honors. He is an accomplished restaurateur. He is the author of many acclaimed cookbooks, but also one heck of an entertaining memoir, one that helps showcase why adding “TV…
Category: Posts
Norman’s Return to Orlando
Hello Everyone! It is time (some might say past time) for an update on our restaurant, NORMAN’S. It has been a very busy time as opening restaurants always are. So please let me share some news with you all! Orlando Weekly food editor Faiyaz Kara review at the link. Now…
Miami Luxury Magazine May/June 2023
NORMAN’S Orlando was recently featured in the May/June 2023 Edition of Miami Luxury Magazine….
Smoking Fish and Listening to ‘Layla’
Last week my good friend Amy Drew Thompson … who also is the Food Editor of the Orlando Sentinel asked me if I had a memories of smoked fish I’d like to share with her readers. Amy a.k.a. ‘AD’ is person of journalistic energy like few I’ve known. She loves…
MIMI SHERATON; OUR “KITCHEN CONVERSATION” 2015
Back in late 2015 I had the pleasure of doing one of my “Kitchen Conversations” with the one and only Mimi Sheraton. She passed away this past week at the glorious age of 97. She lived one helluva a life. One with passion, integrity, humor and grit. I hope you…
Resident Living Magazine
Courtesy: Resident Living
Resident Living Magazine wrote and published this fine article on our new location and restaurant in Orlando. Click the link and have a read! Even better … come dine with us soon! #normans #normanvanaken #orlando #newworldcuisine #jamesbeardawarded #residentlivingmagazine…
On the term “Floribbean Cuisine”
Recently my work was written about on a site named, “Tasting Table”. The author didn’t interview me. We have come to a place in time when this is more the case than ever. I’m not hard to locate online so that is perplexing to me. As you will see and…
NORMAN’s Opens on Orlando’s Restaurant Row
“Founding Father of New World Cuisine” unveils new culinary concept featuring both fine dining and inspired casual cuisine experiences under the same roof. Now open, NORMAN’S is a 7,300-square-foot culinary destination offering both fine dining and casual cuisine experiences, in addition to two private event spaces. The dramatic 80-seat Main…
Live with Norman Van Aken – a discussion on “Love, Charlie: The Rise and Fall of Chef Charlie Trotter”
Through sheer luck and the billions of things that lead us from one road, one town, one job interview to another I met Charlie Trotter. He went on to become one of the most admired, celebrated and sometimes feared chefs in America. The documentary, “Love, Charlie” gets past the quick…
Tropical Trailblazer – Miami New Times
Hi All, I am very grateful to share an article that just came out in the Miami New Times profiling my career. The beautifully written piece by long time Miami journalist and published poet Jen Karetnick also delves into my deep friendship with Chef Charlie Trotter and the recently released…
Getting the Band Back Together with Norman Van Aken of Orlando
“It’s a rare thing for a restaurant, even a beloved one, to be reconstituted years after its original iteration, let alone after two prior versions. This weekend, in Orlando, FL, the legendary Norman Van Aken introduces the third rendering of his landmark Norman’s to the world. On this Andrew Talks…
Fall 2022 Newsletter
Hi Everyone, As I write this, I realize I’m writing about another turning point in my professional life. It is more than a new chapter. It is more like a new book. I have been in this business most of my life. There were ‘books’ before we ever opened the first NORMAN’S….
Food, Fishing, & Florida
Join The New York Times’ food editor Sam Sifton and chef Norman Van Aken in a rollicking exchange of ideas about South Florida’s culinary bounty and the environmental issues implicit in how we harvest and serve our food. Registration See Invitation…
A Conversation: Janet Dulin Jones and Norman Van Aken
“The joy of the food is evident in a taped moment he shows me on a video camera monitor. A fish merchant brought in a 100 lb. crab. Norman’s enthusiastic and lively staff are gathered in the kitchen as the huge crab is held up by a fish merchant. …
Cooking Kahala Fish on a Blackstone Griddle
Hi All! I’m looking forward to you watching me and my friend Chef Nate Lippy of Blackstone Griddles cook some Kahala Fish with Brazilian inspirations! Let me know what you would like us to cook next time he and I are doing one of these videos!…
The Fishmonger & The Sea
I had the great fortune to meet a fishmonger named Kelly Probst a few years ago. He had started a fishing business and it was clear that he was going about it in a way that spoke very clearly to what I look for in any raw product. If you…