Mar. 20--Another nationally recognized celebrity chef has announced plans for an Orlando restaurant, but this one starts out with Florida roots. 

Norman Van Aken, credited as one of the pioneers of South Florida's New World cuisine, has announced he will bring a version of his Coral Gables restaurant, Norman's, to the Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes Orlando resort currently under construction in south Orlando. The partnership represents the first time the tony hotelier has tapped an independent restaurateur/chef to operate one of its restaurants. 

Reached by phone in Philadelphia, where he is on a tour to promote a new cookbook, Van Aken said the new restaurant's menu will be nearly identical to the one in Miami. "The idea was that the Ritz-Carlton wanted to partnership with what is the Norman's experience." 

Van Aken said the deal came about after some representatives of the hotel group ate at Norman's just a little more than six months ago. "They said, 'These people really know how to operate a restaurant and we know how to operate a hotel,' " Van Aken said. 

The news comes only a few months after Todd English and the Dolphin and Swan hotels announced plans for English, owner of Boston area Olives, Figs and other restaurants, to open a new concept in the hotels on Disney property. 

Van Aken's Central Florida restaurant will be called Norman's at the Ritz-Carlton, with both it and the resort due to open July 1. The design of the restaurant will be similar to the one in Coral Gables, which features touches of Caribbean and Mediterranean decor. The Orlando restaurant will boast a large wine vault in the center of the dining room. 

The menu will focus on New World or Floribbean cuisine, which is a fusion of local produce and seafood and the techniques of Caribbean cooking. 

The Norman's at the Ritz-Carlton opening will beat the previously announced restaurant by English, still unnamed; it is scheduled to open at the end of the year. 

Van Aken has been honored by the prestigious New York-based James Beard Foundation as the best chef in the nation and was chosen to coordinate its gala reception at last year's Beard awards program. This year, he will be inducted into that organization's Who's Who, the first Florida chef to make the list. 

His restaurant has gained accolades from numerous national publications. 

This will be only the second Norman's although Van Aken has a bistro concept, called Mundo, under construction in Coral Gables. He said he has been approached by people in Los Angeles to open a Norman's there, but he has no plans to make the restaurant a chain. Under his contract with Ritz-Carlton, Van Aken will make numerous visits to the Orlando property. 

"It's only about a three-hour drive from where we live," he said. 

Van Aken joins other nationally recognized chefs Wolfgang Puck and Emeril Lagasse who already have restaurants in the Orlando area. 

The Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes Orlando is under construction at 3000 Central Florida Parkway, at John Young Parkway, in south Orlando. 

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