Norman’s Orlando celebrates grand opening with celebrity chefs and master sommeliers

Nearly four years after Norman’s shuttered inside the Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes, the restaurant touting Norman Van Aken’s “new world cuisine” is poised for its grand unveiling May 17. And what an unveiling it will be.

Van Aken, along with Norman’s chef de cuisine Carlos Robles Molina, have invited celebrated culinary icons Ming Tsai and Dean Fearing to join in on the fun. The chefs will prepare a spread of “vibrant, seasonally inspired” bites to go along with cocktail offerings, as well as wine pairings curated by Master Sommeliers Laura DePasquale and Andrew McNamara.

Cocktails and dinner — in the form of passed hors d’oeuvres — will take place in the main dining room from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m., and an “Under the Stars” afterparty will take place on the terrace from 10:30 p.m. until midnight. The new Norman’s is located in the Dellagio Town Center, right in the heart of Dr. Phillips.

Tsai is a James Beard Award-winning chef and the face behind Simply Ming, the longest-running cooking show on PBS (it first aired in 2003), while Fearing, also a James Beard Award winner, is known as the “Father of Southwestern Cuisine.” His Fearing’s Restaurant in Dallas has been wowing the 10-gallon-hat set since 2007.

Now if Van Aken isn’t gastronomy’s poet laureate, then he’s certainly one of its most soulful harmonica players. In fact, he and axeman Fearing have been known to jam on stage when the mood strikes.

Asked if he’d play any instruments should his cohorts feel the music in them, Tsai gleefully responds with a “Ha! Nunchucks.”

Should be a fun evening.

Cost of the dinner is $250 per person, with proceeds going to benefit Kids Beating Cancer®. For tickets, RSVP to laura@normans.com.
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This article appears in May 10-16, 2023.