Courtesy: Orlando Sentinel
Journalist Amy Drew Thompson deserves a medal for all of the great community work she does for Orlando. Not only is she a fascinating, fun and detail oriented food writer she also brings us news and stories about the kinds of things that draw us together in addition to food…
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…
Let me take you back a couple of years. I was immensely fortunate to be introduced by a mutual friend to a woman named Stacie Archer. You will learn more about her in the process of reading this post, but if you are lucky you will meet in her in…
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…
The venerable Southern Living Magazine just released the 2024 Best New Restaurants in Every Southern State. Lisa Cericola is the journalist who wrote this engaging article. Their choice for the entire state of Florida is “NORMAN’S‘. I was taking completely by surprise to be candid. It is not like other…
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…
BOQUERIA MARKET: BARCELONA Saturday, September 10, 2005 Saturdays in markets all over the world bustle with energy. At Barcelona’s famed Boqueria market on a sun drenched September morning Janet and I felt as alive and excited as we might have walking into Woodstock in 1969. Magazine pictures can only give…
I was a fan of this legendary New Orleans artist from his breakout albums ‘Gris Gris’ in 1968. I likely was turned onto it by a guy I came to identify as my chosen older brother. He preceded me in birth by four critical years. When he turned me on…
Greetings All! It is time for the debut of our newest Tasting Menu at our restaurant, ‘Norman’s Orlando’. We begin on February 15th. Click on the PDF below and the full menu will appear. With this menu we are also celebrating our First Anniversary at this location! For those of…
I have begun a new series I’ve titled ‘Folks’. They include the myriad people I’ve met, cooked for, hung out with and more over the life. For other entries see that area of my site. It is under, “Writings”. You never know who you will bump into. MICKEY ROURKE The…
Boats are launched. So perhaps it is by some unconscious pull like a tide in the Gulf of Mexico I have selected the one and only ‘Captain Tony’ to start my first in what will hopefully be a surprising list of what I call ‘folks’ here that I’ve come to…
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…
Please check out the new Miami New Times article written by Nicole Danna on the debut of my new show, “Norman’s Florida Kitchen”. To our delight Amazon Prime has picked it up and offering it where Amazon Prime is! Just hit the link above. We’d love to hear about your…
Hi All! Recently I was up with our team at my new restaurant in Orlando just off Sand Lake Road in the Dellagio Plaza. The kind folks at the newscast ‘Click Orlando’ had me on their show, “Florida Foodie”. The digital storyteller is Thomas Mates and the hosts were Anchor,…
9 Celebrity Chef Restaurants in Orlando You Have To Try Famed chef and cookbook author Norman Van Aken has a long history of operating successful restaurants in the Sunshine State. His recently-opened Norman’s, located in the Dellagio Town Center of Dr. Phillips, is a must-visit. Norman’s fusion menu includes everything…
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…
