No Experience Necessary is Chef Norman Van Aken’s joyride of a memoir. In it he spans twenty-plus years and nearly as many jobs—including the fateful job advertisement in the local paper for a short-order cook with “no experience necessary.” Long considered a culinary renegade and a pioneering chef, Van Aken is an American original who chopped and charred, sweated and seared his way to cooking stardom with no formal training, but with extra helpings of energy, creativity, and faith. After landing on the deceptively breezy shores of Key West, Van Aken faced hurricanes, economic downturns, and mercurial moneymen during the decades when a restaurant could open and close faster than you can type haute cuisine. From a graveyard shift grunt at an all-night barbeque joint to a James Beard–award finalist for best restaurant in America, Van Aken put his trusting heart, poetic soul, natural talent, and ever-expanding experience into every venture—and helped transform the American culinary landscape along the way. In the irreverent tradition of Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential, and populated by a rogues’ gallery of colorful characters—including movie stars, legendary musicians, and culinary giants Julia Child, Emeril Lagasse, and Charlie Trotter—No Experience Necessary offers a uniquely personal, highly-entertaining under-the-tablecloth view of the high-stakes world of American cuisine told with wit, insight, and great affection by a natural storyteller.

"This is not your mother’s cookbook, and it’s not truly a cookbook, at that, although recipes are slapped in as palate cleansers between restaurant-themed chapters detailing chef and cookbook author Van Aken’s escapades. Yet this might just be the book to hand to nearly every raffish, wanna-be-something male in sight—a rowdy, fist-pumped-in-the-air memoir of a guy who found his way chopping, dicing, and wreaking havoc. Van Aken’s story starts in the 1970s, so there’s hitchhiking, Volkswagens needing push starts, and fired-up grills (and girls) around every corner. Though his kitchen mates tend to serve f-bombs with every meal, Van Aken seems like a pretty good guy, gamely trying his hand at many non-food-related jobs, marrying the young lady he truly loved, and his enthusiasm for his life is evident in every exclamation point. Like Forrest Gump with a carving knife, the chef serves up tales of hearing Jimmy Buffet in a little Key West dive, partying at Tennessee Williams’ house, and more, all in an era before celebrity chefs truly sprouted. Come and get it while it’s hot—bad language, good times, fine dining." - Booklist

"Cookbook author, award-winning chef, and restaurant owner Van Aken (Feast of Sunlight; The Exotic Fruit Book) details his journey from Diamond Lake, IL, to Key West, FL, and back again in this entertaining memoir. He guides the reader through his early years as a cook and, later, a chef, in what feels like a conversation around the hot line on a slow night, with a bit of gin in a mug. (Don't end up wearing the sauce, though.) Van Aken's relaxed tone will draw in readers, and colorful language abounds (one memorable chapter is titled 'Shit Happens'). He hilariously describes an intriguing cast of characters, including a sprinkling of celebrity chefs in their early years and the unusual figures that populated a wild Key West and even a not-so-wild Illinois. Each chapter concludes with a recipe (e.g. 'Flame on Shish Kabob,' 'Bicycle Sammy's Potato Salad'). VERDICT: Those who love food, food culture, South Florida, and biographies will enjoy this romp through the 1970s and 1980s as Van Aken evolves from entry-level cook to a famous chef, with many stops in between." - Library Journal

"[In] vivid prose, Van Aken’s narrative speeds through restaurants, anecdotes, and oddball characters. Each chapter ends with a flourish: a recipe from a particular stage of his career. . . . Van Aken has crafted an unlikely tale of a hippie kid who helped raise Margaritaville to a culinary destination." - Publishers Weekly

"…I’m struck for this cook’s passion to be fed. This culinary memoir includes a smattering of recipes mostly derived from kitchens of Van Aken's colorful past, like a gin and tamarind tea cocktail he once served to Tennessee Williams so delicious it will now become a summer staple in my home. But the book’s main focus is on the sacred friendships Van Aken formed with the late Charlie Trotter (whom Van Aken took from busboy to the kitchen) and Emeril Lagasse. He also pays tribute to other mentors and friends that have since passed; had this book gone to print just a few months later, his devoted friend Charlie—who died this past November—would have been included on that list." - Saveur

"Peppered liberally with Floribean recipes from his namesake Orlando restaurant and full of salty anecdotes, the James Beard Award winner’s confessional cookbook offers an inside-the- kitchen view of a celebrity chef’s career. Van Aken’s misadventures with Emeril Lagasse and Charlie Trotter are the stuff movies are made from." - Orlando Magazine

"It is hard to think that as much a “melting pot,” “salad bowl,” or whatever other food analogy is used to describe this country, it has only been recently that its ethnic cuisines have been embraced by the oppressively high standards of the culinary world. Chef Norman Van Aken is one reason why...In his recently published memoir, No Experience Necessary, Van Aken writes about his unconventional journey of becoming a chef and the experiences leading up to the discovery of this American cuisine." - Smithsonian Magazine

"This yarn is peppered with the savory characters Van Aken came across on his adventures, including Emeril Lagasse, Anthony Bourdain, and even Julia Child. Then there are the unsung heroes of his adventures, such as ex-Navy man, Fred Boomer, who with two broken arms, taught Aken to make soup." - Short Order, The Miami NewTimes blog

"[A] great read from the man who's called 'The Father of New World Cuisine,' and a must-read for anybody with aspirations to not only work in a kitchen but to live the most romantic chef's life possible." - FoodRepublic.com

"No Experience Necessary chronicles his thrilling journey, along with great recipes interspersed between each chapter." - Orlando Style Magazine

"It is a rollicking story, full of near-misses and worthwhile achievements, and Van Aken tells it with gusto." - Virtual Gourmet

"Van Aken is a terrific storyteller." - Palm Beach Post

"As Van Aken (My Key West Kitchen: Recipes and Stories, 2012, etc.) readily admits in his delightful, oftentimes laugh-out-loud memoir, his journey into the life of restaurant cooking occurred by happenstance: He needed a job, and a diner needed a cook, no experience necessary. What unfolded over a 20-plus-year span was the slow maturation of a teen into a man and of a clumsy and untrained novice into a chef who rode the edge of the New American cuisine wave as it broke on the shores of America. From Illinois to Key West, Van Aken takes readers behind the scenes and deep into the hearts of the restaurants for which he worked, where the kitchen life was energized, hectic and often swelteringly hot. With no formal schooling in the culinary arts, the author watched like a hawk, asked numerous questions and read cookbooks by some of the best chefs in the world while learning the ins and outs of French cuisine, ethnic Latin American, Italian and Japanese foods, as well as the new fusion style of American cooking. At first, however, he did it all with a certain amount of reluctance, as he writes: 'A kitchen job again? Oh my God! What crimes did I do in a former life to merit this role again?' Nicely intertwined with the fast-paced antics of the kitchen are Van Aken's reflections on his romantic life with his wife and son. The author pays homage to the many chefs who influenced him in his career and recounts moments with some of the greats, like Julia Child, Charlie Trotter and Emeril Lagasse. As an added bonus, Van Aken includes a wide variety of recipes mentioned in the text. A lively romp into the frenetic life of a significant American chef." - Kirkus

"…[A] rollercoaster on two wheels — hilarious vignettes of real-life kitchens and a lowly cook’s life from sun-up to sun-up again." - Florida Weekly

"No Experience Necessary is not in any sense a wine book, but its lessons are relevant to anyone who loves wine, food and life." - Wine Spectator

"Van Aken’s story of his evolution from short order cook to acclaimed pioneer of new world fusion cuisine is frank and raucous. His vivid writing, in which small, sharp details bring to life a first encounter with a new hire, a crisis on the line, or a slow-motion car crash of a meal in an august restaurant, elevates this far above the run-of-the-mill dutifully respectful career chronicle. Very worthwhile. And a blast to read." - Kitchen Arts & Letters

"The book breaks down the vast experience Van Aken ended up with, burn by burn, kitchen by kitchen." - Miami Herald

"For lovers of great food, great restaurants and great tales, No Experience Necessary is a must-read." - Salt Lake City Weekly