As if
Florida weren't already warm enough in March, an entire
roster of superchefs is again planning to turn up the heat in Miami
at this year's third annual
South Beach Wine & Food Festival.
Highlights of the three-day extravaganza, which runs March 5
through 7, include a Celebrity Chefs and Winemakers Golf Tournament
at the Biltmore in Coral Gables; a splashy, beachside Moët &
Chandon "Bubble Q"; a Willie Nelson concert; simultaneous Saturday
evening dinners at four different venues; an
American Airlines live
auction featuring wine lots, travel, and more; and the signature
Sunday afternoon Grand Tasting. Along the way, there will be lots
of other hands-on (and forks-on) seminars, tastings, and
tributes.
The stellar chef lineup includes globe-trotting toques such as
Alain Ducasse,
Todd English,
Bobby Flay,
Emeril Lagasse, Nobu
Matsuhisa, and
Claude Troisgros - household names even to people
whose idea of fine dining is ordering takeout sushi and watching
Iron Chef reruns. And there are many other participating chefs from
across the country whose names will also resonate with foodies
everywhere. But, since this is a South Beach event, we thought we'd
profile three local
Miami success stories participating in this
year's festival.
Norman Van Aken
Chef and co-owner
Norman's
21 Almeria Ave., Coral Gables, Florida, (305) 446-6767 www.normans.com
In 1989, in a meeting of the culinary minds, several of the
Sunshine State's top chefs got together to discuss what was then
loosely being called "new Florida cooking."
Norman Van Aken noted
that this cuisine had its roots in, and was an extension of, the
meeting of cultures brought about by
Columbus' discovery of the New
World, an event that changed eating patterns and cooking on a
global scale. He suggested that the Florida chefs should call their
distinctive direction in cooking "New World cuisine." The name
stuck.