Restaurant Nora
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Restaurant Nora was a restaurant owned by chef
Nora Pouillon Nora Pouillon (born October 26, 1943) is an Austrians, Austrian chef, restaurateur, and author. She was the owner of Restaurant Nora in Washington, D.C., famous for its status as America's first certified organic restaurant. Biography Early li ...
in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, and has been reported as America's first
certified organic Organic certification is a certification process for producers of organic food and other organic agricultural products.Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic prod ...
restaurant.


Opening and early years

In 1979, chef
Nora Pouillon Nora Pouillon (born October 26, 1943) is an Austrians, Austrian chef, restaurateur, and author. She was the owner of Restaurant Nora in Washington, D.C., famous for its status as America's first certified organic restaurant. Biography Early li ...
opened Restaurant Nora on the corner of
Florida Avenue Florida Avenue is a major street in Washington, D.C. It was originally named Boundary Street, because it formed the northern boundary of the Federal City under the 1791 L'Enfant Plan. With the growth of the city beyond its original borders, B ...
and 21st in the
DuPont Circle Dupont Circle is a historic roundabout park and Neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood of Washington, D.C., located in Northwest (Washington, D.C.), Northwest D.C. The Dupont Circle neighborhood is bounded approximately by 16th St ...
neighborhood. Journalist
Sally Quinn Sally Sterling Quinn (born July 1, 1941) is an American author and journalist. She writes about religion for a blog at ''The Washington Post''. Early life Sally Quinn was born in Savannah, Georgia, to Lt. General William Wilson "Buffalo Bill" ...
and her late husband,
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
executive editor,
Ben Bradlee Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee (, 1921 – , 2014) was an American journalist who served as managing editor and later as executive editor of ''The Washington Post'', from 1965 to 1991. He became a public figure when the ''Post'' joined ''The ...
were early patrons and financial backers of the restaurant. Quinn offered a piece of advice: “Don’t mention anything about being healthy and natural. That sounds so unappetizing. That sounds like hippie food.” Pouillon ignored it, making her organic ingredients the focus of the restaurant. The early reviews for Nora's were mixed, with Robert Shoffner of the '' Washingtonian'' less than enthusiastic about Pouillon's food. In 1980, ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
s Phyllis Richman noted that "the cooking has matured," calling Nora's "a sophisticated return to old-fashioned home cooking, with dishes from here and there but ingredients only from impeccable sources that raise their meats without chemicals." By the early 1990s, Nora's became a destination for D.C’s media and political elite, particularly in the administration of President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
. In 1996, Chef Nora was named U.S.A. Chef of the Year by the American Tasting Institute, and she published a cookbook, ''Cooking with Nora : seasonal menus from Restaurant Nora : healthy, light, balanced, and simple food with organic ingredients''.


Organic certification

In the mid-1990s, Chef Nora began to investigate how Restaurant Nora could become an organic-certified restaurant and learned that no certification process existed. She decided to set about creating those standards. She worked for two years with Oregon Tilth, a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to supporting and advocating organic food and farming. The
Oregon Tilth Oregon Tilth is an American nonprofit membership organization advocating organic food and farming, based in Corvallis, Oregon. Oregon Tilth's purpose is to educate gardeners, farmers, legislators, and the general public about sustainable growing ...
Certified Organic Organic certification is a certification process for producers of organic food and other organic agricultural products.Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic prod ...
Program was established in 1982 and is an Accredited Certifying Agent for the USDA’s National Organic Program. The resulting standard required that 95 percent of the food used, as a certified restaurant, must be obtained from USDA certified organic sources. “This meant obtaining proof of organic certification from all our suppliers,” she says. Chef Nora complied with the lengthy requirements, and in 1999 Nora's became the first certified organic restaurant in the country.


Later years and closure

By the early 2000s, the restaurant had become a fixture in Washington's dining scene, and was named among ''Washingtonian'' magazine's "Very Best Restaurants." In 2016, Nora's was one of the approximately 100 restaurants reviewed in the first
Michelin Guide The ''Michelin Guides'' ( ; ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The ''Guide'' awards up to three Michelin star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few restaurants ...
for Washington, D.C. Upon Chef Nora's retirement in June 2017, Restaurant Nora closed its doors. Prior to her retirement, Chef Nora received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the
James Beard Foundation The James Beard Foundation is an American non-profit culinary arts organization based in New York City. It was named after James Beard, a food writer, teacher, and cookbook author. Its programs include guest-chef dinners to scholarships for asp ...
, celebrating her career at the restaurant.


Notable patrons and events

Restaurant Nora has held lunches, dinners, and events for dignitaries, congressional members and
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
administrations, and was a favorite of
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
. In 1993, President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
held his first inaugural party at the restaurant. Many of Clinton's cabinet members and staff ate at Nora's in the 1990s, and Vice President
Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...
and
Tipper Gore Mary Elizabeth "Tipper" Gore (née Aitcheson; born August 19, 1948) is an American social issues advocate. She was the second lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001 through her marriage to the 45th vice president, Al Gore in 1970, from who ...
celebrated her 45th birthday at the restaurant. President
Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
and
Nancy Reagan Nancy Davis Reagan (; born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress who was the first lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989, as the second wife of President Ronald Reagan. Reagan was born in ...
also ate at Nora's. When asked about her Presidential patrons by The
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...
Post, Pouillon was reported to have said: “Neither of the Bush presidents ever set foot in Nora’s, but
Laura Bush Laura Lane Welch Bush (née Welch; born November 4, 1946) is an American educator who was the first lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009 as the wife of George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States. Bush was previously the fir ...
came, along with her two daughters, ..Good food, it seems, is also bipartisan.” In January 2010, President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
held a surprise birthday party for First Lady
Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama ( Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United Stat ...
at the restaurant.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nora Defunct restaurants in Washington, D.C. Dupont Circle Organic food