Meet the prominent chefs, restaurateurs, culinary experts, and authors behind our posters, prints, and cards.
Norman Van Aken
Among his many masteries as a chef, Norman Van Aken is best known for introducing “fusion” into the lexicon of modern cookery. He is known as the “founding father of New World Cuisine” – a celebration of Latin, Caribbean, Asian, American, and African flavors. He is the only Floridian Chef inducted into the prestigious James Beard Foundation’s list of “Who’s Who in American Food and Beverage.” He was a 2016 MenuMasters Hall of Fame inductee, along with previous winners Wolfgang Puck and Jacques Pépin. Van Aken is a James Beard semifinalist for “Best Chef in America” and his namesake Orlando restaurant, Norman’s, was nominated as a finalist for “Outstanding Restaurant in America,” the only one thus far in the entire state of Florida.He has represented the United States often, garnering international recognitions that include being honored alongside Alice Waters, Paul Prudhomme, and Mark Miller, as one of the “Founders of New American Cuisine” at Spain’s International Summit of Gastronomy “Madrid Fusión” (2006), and represented the State of Florida at the USA Pavilion at EXPO Milano/World’s Fair (2015).
Van Aken has shared his cooking and career, penning six cookbooks (Feast of Sunlight; The Exotic Fruit Book; Norman’s New World Cuisine; New World Kitchen; My Key West Kitchen; Norman Van Aken’s Florida Kitchen) and a memoir (No Experience Necessary: The Culinary Odyssey of Chef Norman Van Aken). His cookbooks have been hailed by the late Anthony Bourdain & Charlie Trotter as well as Thomas Keller, Emeril Lagasse, Eric Ripert, and Wolfgang Puck; while his memoir captured the attention of the prestigious IACP/Julia Child Award and received a finalist nomination along with Michael Pollan, Anne Willan, and Luke Barr. His latest published book, Norman Van Aken’s My Florida Kitchen, was selected to represent the USA in the local category of the Gourmand International World Cookbook Awards and has been awarded the Florida Book Award’s Gold Medal for Cooking.