"Oh, it's real," someone calls from the backseat, chortling. We've obviously reached Orlando.
Despite the hour-plus of stops and starts in traffic from Tampa, where I met up with three colleagures, everyone remains cheerful. It must be the delicious anticipation of the blowout meal we're about to have at Norman's.
Norman Van Aken finds his inspiration from a notably different South than the other chefs in this story: He looks to South Florida. Van Aken is the innovator of what's commonly coined "Floribbean" cuisine, though he strongly prefers the term "New World." For more than 20 years, Van Aken has drawn from the culinary traditions of the Caribbean, South America, and even weaves a smidge of Asia into his unique New American framework.
Van Aken's flagship eatery, Norman's, resides in the Coral Gables neighborhood of Miami. A few years ago, executives from the Ritz-Carlton were eating there and approached Van Aken about partnering in a restaurant for the corporation's new property in Orlando.
"I thought they were all just feeling good on full stomachs," jokes Van Aken.
Apparently, they were serious. In late 2003, Norman's Orlando opened and Van Aken became the first celebrity chef outside the company to establish a restaurant within a Ritz-Carlton resort.
As we emerge from our long schlep, somber-faced doormen greet us. They point us in the direction of Norman's and bow with a solicitous, "My pleasure." Uh oh, is this going to be stuffy? We walk into the dining room and then breathe easy. Van Aken's outpost has a decidedly sunnier disposition than most formal Ritz-Carlton dining rooms. A dark, wooden, turret-shaped ceiling encircles a creamy white dining room with fluttery drapes. We're seated next to a window that overlooks a preternaturally green landscape.
For all his business acumen, Van Aken strikes me as a dreamer. He quotes T.S. Eliot in his tasting menu - "April is the cruelest month …" - and sees a Key West twilight sky in his creamy cracked conch chowder with saffron, toasted coconut, orange and foam "cloud." Yet when I taste it, I buy into his musings. He's coaxed the nuance out of each ingredient and created a liquid permeated with lingering, mysterious flavors.
One dish roots itself permanently in my imagination: jerk-spiced chicken confit over creamy salt-cod bandade. Chicken confit? Paired with salt-cod? Whoever heard the likes? It completely works, though. The dark meat of the chicken thigh has the brawn to match the assertive salt cod, and a frisee salad with sherry vinaigrette helps both heavyweights lighten up.
We've each ordered a tasting menu with wine pairings. Plate after plate, glass after glass arrives. Servers swoop around the table at each course, placing dishes on the table in synchronized pirouettes. It becomes difficult to keep track. As one tablemate comments, "It all just tastes like good."
The sommelier is amused when we try to guess the origins of the wines we're drinking.
"I'm betting it's a Burgundy."
"I agree. It's got that green pepper thing."
"Actually, it's a Burgundy-style from California."
Oh, well. Wherever the wine is from, it's lovely. And it pairs surprisingly astutely with Van Aken's signature roasted pork Havana with stone-ground grits - ah, grits in Florida, too! - in a cryptically complex molé sauce.
We quibble over our favorite dessert. Mine? Rhubarb-strawberry shortcake with vanilla shortbread, strawberry soup and pistachio ice cream. (My strawberry fetish wins again.)
Four hours later, we each arise from the table collectively, happily exhausted. I'm secretly surprised. Many satellite restaurants suffer when their star chefs work predominately offsite. But Van Aken has imbued the Orlando staff with a hot-blooded zeal for his singular slant on Latin-tinged fusion.
I feel sorry for our designated driver. He looks bone weary as he waits for the valet to bring around the car. I soon nod off nonetheless. The drive back to Tampa seems miraculously speedy.
Norman's at the Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes, 4012 Central Florida Parkway, Orlando. 407-393-4333. www.normans.com. Dinner: Sun.-Thurs., 6-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 6-10:30 p.m. A la carte entrees: $34-$37. Tasting menu: $85 (wine pairings an additional $55). Major credit cards. Valet parking.
