After the Hurricane, Norman Van Aken Breezes Gently In

By JULIETTE ROSSANT When I started writing Super Chef, I met and interviewed Norman Van Aken, then long-time owner of the successful, eponymous Norman's in Coral Gables, Florida, which he opened in 1995. At the time I talked to him (late 2001), he told me that he would never expand beyond his one restaurant -- not that he is the first (or last) chef to ever make that claim -- and so, as a one-shop chef-restaurateur, he did not fit the definition of a super chef, though he was a source for the book. His outlook is captured in a Cigar Aficionado article from the previous year. Of course, many chefs do just the opposite. Maybe they go back and watch the scene in The Godfather in which businessman Marlon Brando makes someone an offer he can't refuse. And during this year, 2004, Norman has made a decided jump in expanding into empire, opening not one but three restaurants: Mundo in Miami, Norman's Orlando, and Norman's Los Angeles. Among those whose offer he could not refuse was Ritz-Carlton hotel group, successor to the original Ritz Development Company owned by Cesar Ritz, who helped to make Auguste Escoffier famous (see Super Chef, pp. 3-4, 212-213). But wait! There's more. Now, after weeks of terrible hurricanes, the Miami Herald reports that Norman is blowing in to the Carysfort Grille at the members-only Ocean Reef Resort in Key Largo, Florida, making him 4-0 this year. What I am seeing here with Norman and a number of other chefs -- Wolfgang Puck, Thomas Keller, Paul Prudhomme, Bradley Ogden, Mark Miller, and Joachim Splichal -- is a race against time to cash in. All of these chefs are 50+, Prudhomme 60+, Paul Bocuse & co. 70+. The Big 50 seems to be the number that makes chefs reconsider their kitchen life expectancy. Superstar athletes tend to finish out anywhere from their 30s to 40s, chefs in their 50s. It's about standing around -- not loafing but spending hour upon hour on one's feet. On the bottom line, it's about the lower half of the body: achy joints and varicose veins. Splichal and Miller have largely sold their businesses (see previous entry "Nick Valenti: Super Chef Master"). Of course, it's much more about being a great chef and savvy business person. And the nationwide storm unleashed by Norman has let loose with great success, as have the others. How many opportunities outside of Florida will Norman take, besides Los Angeles? Any word from Vegas, Norman?