Celebrity Chef Norman Van Aken dishes on his return to Orlando

Rather than retiring after 50 years of cooking, 72-year-old celebrity Chef Norman Van Aken is busy with his newest restaurant, dubbed Norman’s on Restaurant Row in southwest Orlando's Dr. Phillips area.

“My friends are like, 'You're doing this again,' ” said Van Aken, who is a James Beard Foundation semi-finalist for “Best Chef in America." “And I’m like, 'Why would I not?' This is what keeps my brain spinning in ways that allow me to feel creative and be involved with the changing world.”

Van Aken, known as "the founding father of new world cuisine," along with his longtime partner Kim Woods, who helped open Norman’s Coral Gables, brought this vision for the new Norman's restaurant to life. Woods, a hospitality entrepreneur who started working with Van Aken in 2002, handles the restaurant's operational needs.

The 7,500-square-foot venue has an 80-seat main dining room, a bar, two 20-seat private dining rooms and an 80-seat terrace with a bar. The indoor dining room offers a classic fine-dining experience complete with white tablecloths and a separate menu featuring main plates. Meanwhile, the outdoor terrace features a more casual tapas menu and a DJ at night.

Check out the gallery above for an inside look at Norman’s Orlando.

Here, OBJ sat down with Van Aken, to talk about how his new restaurant is different from the former Norman’s at The Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes, his leadership style and more:

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How does it feel to be back in Orlando?

It has been a really warm reception from the guests, I think one of the most uniformed comments is like, "We weren’t sure if you were really coming back, because we saw that sign up there for so long." I understand that, it has been three years since The Ritz sold. They gave us an extension for a whole year— so that brought us 16 years at The Ritz — that’s just a long time.

Could you explain the thought process behind creating a restaurant with two different atmospheres?

With the long history we had with The Ritz, you got borne in at the DNA-level elegance, fine-dining, reserved haute atmosphere. At The Ritz, we did have an exterior patio but we largely used that for booked private parties. The world began to know more about utilizing dining in outdoor spaces with Covid coming along — and restaurants from New York to San Francisco and all points in between began to see people wishing to gather outside for health reasons. When we saw the patio and what became the terrace, we thought, "This is where people will gravitate toward as well." This gave us an opportunity to explore a side of our platform for hospitality which includes more casual. It will be another layer of experience for people who only dined at Norman’s at The Ritz.

What’s your leadership style?

Working with my chefs, they can be from many different places, so I don’t want to say, "Here’s everything that comes from me to you, so you receive the holy word." No, we talk and I find out from them the things they grew up with and the things they love that their families made or make. Then I’ll go, "Well, that will be an element for us to consider for the ‘xyz’ dish." I think that’s why many people have stayed with me.

What's the biggest lesson you have learned?

The most important thing any of us can learn is to listen and be open to the ever-interesting aspects of being in the world, being alive and sharing food with people who come from different backgrounds. My entire career has been built on me responding to the flavors of other people, cultures and cuisines. I was born in a town north of Chicago and I didn’t have Caribbean or Latin food to speak of until I moved to Key West when I was 21.

Norman's

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