Posts

NORMAN ON “THE PERFECT BITE”

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…

‘THE WAY WE COOK’, SAVEUR

I believe it was in 1994 that Saveur Magazine began publication. I was in the midst of beginning to write a cookbook for Random House titled, “New World Cuisine”. While writing a book it is very hard to do almost anything else. It is simply way too time consuming doing…

TWO ‘FOREVER MEMORY’ NIGHTS

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…

Outstanding in the Field and 4 Roots Farm Dinner

In a dynamic and sure to be delicious collaboration CEO of ‘4 Roots Farm’, John Rivers announced an event with the Farm and the roving, imaginative group knowns as, “Outstanding in the Field”. The meal will feature a tour of the amazing, multi-dimensional property that ‘4Roots Farm’ is and then…

CHEF JACQUES PÉPIN SALUTES ‘GET COOKING’!

Hello Everyone! Stacie Archer, my partner in our non-profit, ‘Get Cooking’ and I are happy to provide and update on our progress and share this beautiful video as well! Stacie is tirelessly working to help find more ways to extend our mission. for more information on that please go to…

TREASURE BOOK SERIES: STAFF MEALS

The video expresses much about why I consider this a treasure book. Let me prelude it by saying when you are a restaurant owner or the chef of one this book is a godsend. We know how tough this business is. The general populace has learned much about this over…

‘THE FOUR SEASONS’, A TREASURE BOOK

I bought this book or it was given to me while working with Charlie Trotter and Carrie Nahabedian in Lake Forest, Il. at ‘Sinclair’s’. If it was a gift it probably came from Gordon Sinclair who owned the restaurant along with businessman Marshall Field IV. Gordon was great at sharing…

OUR NEW TASTING MENU, “RETRO … WITH A TWIST”

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…

TREASURE BOOK, ‘WHY WE EAT WHAT WE EAT’

Outside of cookbooks the two books on cooking that transformed my thinking and thus my life as a cook were the one I’m featuring here, “Why We Eat What We Eat” by Raymond Sokolov and “Culture and Cuisine” by Jean-Françoise Revel. I also love, “On Food and Cooking” by Harold…

A TREASURE BOOK, “LUTÈCE”, By André Soltner

The beloved Chef who wrote this ‘Treasure Book’ I love passed away in January of this year. As the video portrays I have memories and things I want to share with you. His Memorial which I was invited to was quite recent. The turnout included many of the top chefs…

PODCAST WITH CHEF MIGUEL MASSENS AND MYSELF

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…

NORMAN’S ORLANDO IN THE NEWS!

As many of you know we are doing a Gala Dinner to celebrate the life, work and 90th Birthday of the Legendary Chef Jacques Pépin! This great article written by Orlando’s Ricky Ly in his blog, “Tasty Chomps”. The link will give you the wonderful details. We have a handful…

THE TROTTER PROJECT

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…

SOW PROJECT. A NON-PROFIT TO HELP OUR INDUSTRY

As you will see from the video I am a ‘Culinary Advisor’ for ‘The Sow Project” which was founded by Ben Vaughn. Fellow culinary advisors include Andrew Zimmern, Sophina Uong, Simon Majumdar, Dr. Audrey Elion, José Mendin and more. We are all about helping educate, feed and employment. Please see…

 
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