KEY WEST, 1973 “Then the static hum of the radio stretched into a languid Latin Rhythm, a distant faraway throb of rhumbas and saltwater breakers striking sandy shores. The music from Cuba filled the back room of the grocería with the swish of swaying palm trees. Bang! Justo’s grandfather’s cane…
Posts
Linda Ronstadt; A Memory
The first words I spoke to Linda Ronstadt were these; “Why did you open for Jackson Browne? You are the bigger star”. The first words Linda Ronstadt spoke to me were, “Oh. Jackson would not have a girl be the bigger act”. She had just sat down next to me…
A Word On Food: Coconut
The coconut tree is a member of the palm tree family. Coconut as a term can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which botanically is a drupe, not a nut. If you are wondering what else is a drupe look no further than an avocado….
Time Out Market News
Courtesy: Miami Herald.com
Some changes are underway at South Beach’s biggest food hall with one of Miami’s biggest names revamping his offerings. Norman Van Aken has teamed up with the owners of the popular raw bar Salt & Brine at the Timeout Market in South Beach on a pair of new food stalls….
A Word On Food: Grapes, (Happy New Year!)
Over my head on my writing desk I have a pen holder with the iconic graphic of the Sun Maid Raisin girl. She wears a broad sun bonnet and holds a large basket of luscious grapes. I carried a small box of those raisins in my lunch box to grade…
A Word On Food: Christmas Cookies
We, like many families … and families of many faiths keep the tradition of making Christmas cookies. It would be impossible not to begin with our Nana’s shortbread cookies. They actually got better as the months pass kept in a treasured cookie tin. Gingersnap cookies are another favorite. Once I…
A Word On Food: Paella
Years ago we were in New York City to do a culinary event. We went to a new restaurant making waves back then operated by our chef friend, Bobby Flay. Bobby has a lot of genuine passion for Spanish foods. He knew I did and do as well. The name…
“Norman Van Aken’s Chef’s Table” Debuts at the Coconut Grove Arts Festival
On Monday February 17th please join in as I will be hosting the first of what we plan will be an annual event as part of the Coconut Grove Arts Festival. The “Norman Van Aken Chef’s Table” has been created as a new feature to the historic festival. In this…
A Word On Food: Dream Sheets
Not too long after I became serious about cooking … and the passion gripped me tightly .. I’ve twisted and wrestled around with food composition ideas while still in the requisite lunacy of dreams. Sometimes something useful comes out of the nocturnal pageant. Yet often it is a mishmash, so…
A Word On Food: Candy Bars
Our mother was proud of us as she watched us like little ducks following in some ancient rite of passage as we went to our first swimming lessons at Happy Hollow on Diamond Lake in the late days of May or early June. Truth was that the lake was still…
St Jude Children’s Research Hospital Fund Raiser Big Success!
Pop-up dinner party guests raise $105,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital By KARI BARNETT South Florida Sun Sentinel Nov 21, 2019 | 10:08 AM Chef Jason Smith and sommelier Fareida Rajkumar listen to chef Norman Van Aken during the St. Jude Pop Up Dinner Party presented by The Morgan…
Coconut Grove Arts Festival 2020
COMMUNITY LEADERS JOIN FORCES TO SUPPORT THE ARTS Two legends in South Florida’s restaurant scene have joined forces to announce a new partnership that will showcase the culinary talents of three nationally known celebrity chefs at the 57th edition of the Coconut Grove Arts Festival next February. Monty Trainer, president…
A Word On Food; Jamison Farm
I mostly talk about food here. And I will be doing that with this show. But it is impossible to speak about food without remembering the farms that make it available to us. The poet, philosopher and farmer Wendell Berry put it so well when he wrote, “Eating is an…
Robbin Haas. In Memoriam
“Robbin Haas has passed away”. Those were the words that woke me yesterday. They woke me with sadness. Especially for his family. But also for the South Florida food and restaurant community that Robbin joined us in and helped propel forward ever since his arrival here. When I met Robbin…
A Word On Food: Saffron
When I was becoming more of a chef than I line cook I was beginning to take on the tasks of writing my own menus. I was living in Key West at that juncture of my life. Key West was a great place to buy certain plants…. but unlike a…
BROTHS
The world of cookery has its roots. So many times we look up above the place where a bush or a tree stands seen and obviously morphing. But without the nurturing world below… that provides succor to that organism we enjoy… this would not occur. I save the bones from…