My Organic Life: How a Pioneering Chef Helped Shape the Way We Eat Today

Pouillon, owner of Restaurant Nora in Washington, DC, has the distinction of owning the first restaurant to be certified as organic, in 1999. The author's early childhood was spent at a farm far from her home of Vienna where her family would be safe from the war. There Pouillon learned how to eat fresh from the fields, and as she traveled throughout Europe she discovered the goodness of locally grown food. Moving to the United States, she was appalled at the chemically altered items Americans ate and strove to find fresh, wholesome, and economical provisions for her family. As she began to entertain she found she had a knack for planning meals, which led to giving cooking lessons and then running a small restaurant. Seeking to educate as well as please her customers, Pouillon often led the charge for government standards in organics and environmentally conscious foods. Her restaurant today is an institution and the unofficial meeting place for many politicians and journalists in the nation's capital.