The James Beard Foundation has selected Nora’s Fish Creek Inn as one of five “America’s Classics” restaurants in 2012.
A film crew working for the Foundation spent the morning at the Wilson institution, shooting the breakfast crowd, interviewing patrons and talking to founder Nora Tygum and her family.
“It’s so hard talking about myself,” said Tygum, 69. “I feel like I’m bragging.”
Tygum started the restaurant 30 years ago, said her daughter Kathryn.
While the restaurant was full on the first day it opened, Kathryn said she still remembers struggling to pay the bills.
“We were so broke,” she said. “Fred’s Market totally saved us with a charge account.”
Fast-forward to 30 years later, and the James Beard Foundation has selected the restaurant as one of five America’s Classics, which recognizes the country’s “beloved” regional restaurants, according to its website.
The award will be given out at Lincoln Center on May 7. Kathryn and her brother, Trace, who bought Nora’s from their mother, will be attending the New York City ceremony, where the two- to three-minute video will be shown.
“Distinguished by their timeless appeal, they serve quality food that reflects the character of their communities,” the Beard website states. “In the spirit of James Beard, who enjoyed a paper cone of fried belly clams as much as a white tablecloth dinner, we encourage you to visit these classics. You are sure to find a warm welcome, and deeply satisfying food.”
While nominations for the award are made anonymously, Kathryn said she thinks they won because Nora’s is a decidedly local place where “everybody knows everybody. We’re pretty humble and down to earth.”
Serving homemade biscuits, breads and other comfort foods, Nora’s most famous dish is probably the huevos rancheros. Nora developed the green salsa with a “gal from New Mexico” who worked for her when they opened.
“She kept telling me to put huevos rancheros on the menu,” Tygum said. “I didn’t even know what huevos rancheros was.”
Kathryn said one of her fondest memories of the restaurant was when her mother cooked dinners. She used to ride her horse in the nearby arena. Then, she’d ride it on over to the restaurant, where she’d tie up the horse out front and go inside for an open-faced turkey sandwich.
While Nora’s isn’t serving dinner right now, it is open for breakfast and lunch. On busy summer days, it serves up to 400 people.
Meanwhile, the family memories continue. Kathryn’s daughter, Stevie, said she loves going into the back to steal bacon from the kitchen and her daily after-school snack: a chocolate brownie sundae.
Nora’s is located on Highway 22 near the base of Teton Pass, (307)733-8288
