Food Allergy Hero of the Month: Chef Keith Norman

Nov 29

Chef Keith Norman is the Assistant Executive Chef and Food Safety Manager for the South Point Hotel & Casino. As a certified Master Allergen Awareness Trainer, Chef Norman is the go-to chef with many food allergy resource organizations, and is highly trusted in the food allergy community.

By Chef Keith Norman

I was invited and honored to speak with the Palo Verde High School Interact Club. A group of young adults setting the stage to change the world.

I shared some of my Military experiences with them, but I thought I would share some of their questions and my answers concerning food allergies.

First off, my grandmother from the age of four raised me; one of the questions from the students was where my passion for cooking comes from?

My grandmother was a Master Chef, the time and care that she put into preparing meals, Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners in particular gave you the warm and fuzzy, you knew every dish was made with so much love and care. I always chuckled when she would say grace “Bless the lord and thank the cook, if you don’t have enough just sit and look” and then she would bless the food lol.

Fast forwarding a bit, when my grandmother started getting older my brother and I under her watchful eye began taking over a lot of the kitchen duties and that has carried over into my adult life. However, specific measurements are the guidelines in today’s culinary world a pinch and dash was how I grew up.

I left home at 18 years old and joined the Marine Corp, I enlisted as Cook and grew to love production, cooking in bulk, loved cooking for ten thousand service men and women three square meals a day and for me everything I grew up learning I could use. After eight years active duty and two years reserve, I got out of the Marine Corp and moved to Las Vegas.

After opening multiple Mega Resorts here in Las Vegas in different capacities I was fortunate to join the Coast Casino Family and come to work for Michael Gaughan first at the Suncoast and now at the South Point, which is where focusing and devoting time to our food allergic guests began. I grew out of an olive allergy, but was not educated at the time so I was unaware of cause of swollen lips or the drooling.

In 2009 after meeting a number of allergen families and hearing the stories, I knew we could do more and should do more so with the support from the South Point Management Team we began with training, certification and putting steps in place to minimize the chance of mistakes that cause reactions. Please keep in mind that no one is perfect and there are no guarantees but the last thirteen years of allergy management has taught me that following a well-written plan is the key.

In conclusion, let me share these thoughts and tips for dining out.

When dining out-review the restaurant menus on line if available, that will give you an idea of what the restaurant serves
Pick one or two items that you might want to try from each category
Call the restaurant, make them aware of the food allergies (PLEASE DO NOT TELL THE RESTAURANT THAT THE ALLERGIES ARE NOT THAT SERIOUS)
Ask to speak with the Chef and ask him/her how they handle food allergies! This will in most cases give you the answers to if you should dine or not
Upon arrival, make the Manager, server and busser aware of your allergens, ask to speak with the Chef for he knows the menu and ingredients better than anyone and it gives you an opportunity to begin building a relationship
Once you have ordered, make it a point to verify that the allergen meal served is the allergen meal ordered

Thank you for allowing me to share. Have a safe and happy holiday season.

Chef Keith

Check out Chef’s book on Amazon!