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…
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LOUISIANA KITCHEN: TREASURE BOOK SERIES
When his book ‘Louisiana Kitchen’ came out it was 1984. Back then very few books by an American chef had been written and published nationally. Alice Waters, “Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook” being one of them which arrived in 1982. The first cookbook I ever bought was ‘Theory and Practice of…
THE NATURAL CUISINE OF GEORGES BLANC
As the video will explain this is from my “Treasure Book” series. Chef Georges Blanc career is amazing to learn more about and I urge all you who are in cuisine to study up on him. Though the autograph and lovely inscription is dated from October of ’03 I received…
THE MIDGET BAR; KEY WEST
The excerpts below are from my memoir, “No Experience Necessary”. The title of this post and the photo that accompanies it refer to “The Midget Bar” where I worked in 1973. There is an entire chapter from those days. The Midget was my second cooking job. I worked the ‘graveyard…
MAGICAL DINING KICKING OFF; NORMAN’S
As you can read in the wonderful piece in the recent Orlando Sentinel article written by Amy Drew Thompson we are about to kick off ‘Magical Dining” at NORMAN’S. We are happy to debut it for the first time at our new location! Take a look at the menu here…
‘Love, Charlie’. Now on Netflix
For those who have yet to know the background let me give it as briefly as I can. Charlie graduated from college in Madison, Wisconsin and took a job working as a busboy in a restaurant in Lake Forest, Illinois where I was the Executive Chef. It was the fall…
THE CHEZ PANISSE MENU COOKBOOK
When I was asked to write my first cookbook (a very unexpected surprise!) after all of the writing and recipe testing it came time to do what is almost always part of writing one and that is the ‘Acknowledgments and Dedication’ pages. The dedication went to my wife, Janet and…
“My Top Five Places in Miami” (A Mixed Appreciation!)
Emmanuel Laroche • 1st VP Marketing, Symrise Food & Beverage NA | Award-Winning Author | Podcast Host, Flavors Unknown | Disruptive Innovati My new friend and longtime journalist and food science guy Emmanuel Laroche interviewed me recently and as often happens in interviews he put me on the spot! But…
The Foods of Vietnam, Nicole Routhier
Is it fate or luck that causes us to pick up a cookbook from a favored store or site? This book opened me up to the vast treasure of the modern cooking of Vietnam when I came across it and bought my copy. Maybe, in part it was because of…
“The Foods of Italy”, Giuliano Bugialli
I have been doing a series on my TikTok Channel, (my name is the name of the channel) where I talk and celebrate the cookbooks I consider my “Treasure Books”. My cookbook collection began with a single book of course. Like anyone’s. Over the decades it has turned into a…
FLAVORS UNKNOWN; A Podcast Interview with Chef Norman Van Aken
Hello Everyone! I am pleased to share the new podcast hosted by Emmanuel Laroche. (Linked here). Emmanuel has had many fine guests on including Nina Compton, Sean Brock, Will Guidara and more. He is very experienced in the art of the interview from having done this for years. I plan…
THE INFATUATION; ORLANDO’S BEST!
The best restaurant and bar guide in Miami for me is not Yelp. It is called ‘The Infatuation’. I don’t agree 100% of the time but it is the most interesting. And they are not swayed by the $$$$ silly places that abound as of late. The Infatuation is also…
‘GET COOKING’ ON WESH-TV
Courtesy: WESH-TV
Our non-profit mission ‘Get Cooking’ was just featured by Orlando news station WESH-TV and news journalist Megan Mellado. My partner, Stacie Archer and I are very grateful and want to share it with you. For background ‘Get Cooking” works with food insecure families to teach them how to budget, shop…
BACKSTAGE AT NORMAN’S.
Hi Everyone. I am happy to share the newest episode of my streaming series now out on Blackstone’s YouTube Channel. And I love reading viewers reactions to this way of taking the Blackstone Griddle experience through my lens. This is a project of love decades in the making. I joined…
ON COOKING ‘FLOW’
Recently I finished reading a book that had been quietly, mystically ‘waiting’ for me on a bookshelf in our home. Do you have that happen to you? It is a kind of silent conversation between the author and some intuitive part of the unconscious that relies upon what seems to…
‘Our Homage to Spain’
At NORMAN’S every 6-8 weeks we debut a new ‘Tasting Menu’. I have loved doing them since the late 1980’s while still working in Key West at MIRA within the very pretty Marquesa Hotel at Fleming and Simonton Streets. With our ‘a la carte‘ menu guests choose an assortment of…