Chef Norman Van Aken in the first live Pan Con Podcast (and an appearance by Rosa María Payá)
Pan Con Podcast recorded an episode with a live audience for the first time ever, and we brought in a special guest for the occasion. Chef Norman Van Aken was one of Mike’s early interviewees. He’s also Mike’s longtime culinary mentor and the author of at least one cookbook that changed the course of Mike’s career in food.
This episode was recorded at Ariete in front of an audience of other past guests and friends of Pan Con Podcast — Larry Carrino, Josh Pascual, John Falco, Matt Kuscher, Carolina Quijano, Nidal Barake, Terence Reilly, Otto Othman, Nedal Ahmad, Derek Kaplan, and David Verjano. During the interview, our audience enjoyed a six-course meal bookended by cocktails and cigars, all made possible by this event’s brand partners: Courvoisier, S.Pellegrino, Acqua Panna, D’Artagnan and Aganorsa Leaf.
Mike and Norman discussed the state of the restaurant business after a year and a half of COVID turbulence, the challenges of adapting to a young workforce with new attitudes about the industry, and Norman’s lasting impact on South Florida cuisine.
This episode was recorded July 14, 2021, and we were paid a visit from another past guest, Cuban activist Rosa María Payá, who addressed our guests on the explosion of protests that had begun in Cuba just days earlier on July 11.
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