Norman’s No-Longer-at-the- Ritz-Carlton, is aiming for a late summer opening in its new space at Dellagio Town Center, according to a spokeswoman for the upscale restaurant-
Celebrity chef Norman Van Aken and partners Tom and Kim Wood chose the Dellagio to move the upscale restaurant after it lost its lease with the Ritz-Carlton at Grande Lakes Resort. (Norman’s former space will become Knife & Spoon, a steak and seafood restaurant headed by Dallas chef John Tesar.)
A press release about the move – which had been announced last summer, including the chosen location – now refers to the “anchor space” at Dellagio, which I suppose sounded more prestigious than the former Bravo! pasta house. (One wonders if the partners had known that Urbain 40 would be closing if they might have chosen that for the relo.)
Plans for the redesign will be released this quarter but will include 7599 square feet indoors and 1750 square feet outdoors. The new restaurant will be nearly double the size of the Ritz restaurant, which was substantial. The location was chosen to take advantage of the convention center’s proximity.

One especially good bit of news in the release is that Yusuf Yildiz will stay on as the general manager.
Norman’s at the Ritz was a second location of sorts for Van Aken’s popular South Florida restaurant, though that restaurant no longer exists. Norman’s closed after 16 years at the Ritz-Carlton when the hotelier moved to have only company-owned restaurants at its properties.