The produce department was the smallest section in the store.” [2] As the mother of young children in the 1960s and 1970s, Pouillon did daily shopping and cooking for her family.
Pouillon soon had several home-based businesses in D.C.’s Adams Morgan neighborhood where she hosted and taught cooking classes, and ran a casual catering service.
[2] The turning point in Nora's culinary career came in the mid-1970s, when one of her students asked if she was interested in opening the first restaurant inside the historic Tabard Inn.
[4] She developed a following serving locally-sourced tomatoes and house-made mayonnaise, and began making plans to open her own restaurant.
[3][2] In 1979, Restaurant Nora opened its doors on the corner of Florida Avenue and 21st in Washington, D.C.’s DuPont Circle neighborhood.
[5] Journalist Sally Quinn and her late husband, Washington Post executive editor, Ben Bradlee were early patrons and financial backers of Restaurant Nora.
[1] For many restaurants across the country, achieving and maintaining proof that 95 percent of suppliers are organic is a costly and time-consuming process.
It’s a lot of work to find certified organic farmers and track down certification papers from 35-plus purveyors every year.
[14] Pouillon is a member of Les Dames d'Escoffier, a society of professional women involved in the food, wine, and hospitality industries.
[2][3] Pouillon sits on the board of directors for the Ocean Foundation,[17] the Amazon Conservation Team,[18] the Earth Day Network,[19] and the DC Environmental Film Festival.
Blue Circle supplies fresh and frozen seafood to chefs, retailers, and select distributors.
[22] Pouillon has been married once, to a French journalist, 17 years her senior—the marriage produced two sons and ended in divorce.