Norman Van Aken likens the James Beard Foundation Awards to the Oscars.

“Most people are just aware of who wins, rather than what’s behind all of it,” he says.

Not long ago, Van Aken, a James Beard Award recipient himself, was asked to speak at an event in South Florida, where the founder of new world cuisine first made his name.

In attendance, chefs from all over the state, including one of Orlando’s own James Beard Award nominees, chef Lordfer Lalicon of Kaya , along with others whom Van Aken calls “the bright lights” of the Sunshine State’s culinary scene.

“It was a Chatauqua-like gathering,” Van Aken tells me, “to talk about the challenges of the post-COVID restaurant industry, the current situation with immigration, tariffs, and what these and other issues could mean to opera

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