By SUE RYAN
News staff writer
July 4, 2007

Lunchtime arrives in downtown Hood River and the stomach rumbles in anticipation.

In search of a new place to eat? Try the newest eatery, Nora’s Fish House, at 110 Fifth St. The new venue opened in May and added lunch hours in June.

Cutlery rattled at the restaurant Thursday morning as its crew readied to open for lunch. The hot, sweet smell of battered fish wafted through the air with tantalizing allure. The chef set it aloft a bed of crispy, crackling fries next to tangy coleslaw. Fish and chips and more await the hungry.

The venture is the latest addition to Gorge cuisine by Kathy and Stu Watson. The culinary duo is well-known for Viento, a bistro-style dinner house in Bingen on the Washington side of the Columbia River.

The Watsons named the new restaurant after Kathy’s late mother, Nora Fruh. They believe it will deliver the same bold culinary innovation that earned Viento recognition by The Oregonian in 2006 as one of the three top Gorge dining destinations.

But Nora’s will have its own trademark cuisine by focusing on fish. Kathy, executive chef for both restaurants, has enlisted the talents of Mitch Banks and recent arrival Ian Nicholson.

Banks is a longtime sous chef at Viento. Nicholson, a former commercial fisherman and chef at several California dinner houses, heads up the kitchen at Nora’s.

“We’re really excited to have these two running the kitchen at Nora’s,” Kathy said. “On top of that, we’ve been blessed to find some excellent, experienced line cooks to ensure consistent quality in every plate.”

Alex Lester, a graduate of the Western Culinary Institute in Portland, and Joe Santacroce, who brings years of experience in several Hood River-area restaurants, add their talents to the kitchen.

Nora’s will feature two menus. A fixed menu will feature Northwest favorites such as fish and chips and chowder year-round. A daily fresh sheet will let the kitchen innovate from day to day.

In addition, diners who prefer may have available fresh fish prepared in more traditional ways — grilled, sautéed or blackened.

Nora’s Fish House will also serve a Cascade Natural rib eye steak, an Imperial Stock Ranch beef burger and a roasted chicken for those who prefer land-based proteins.

All seafood and meats come from producers using sustainable practices. Meats contain no antibiotics or hormones. All seafood comes from stocks identified as sustainable by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program.