Once, eight years ago, Kathy had this grand notion. She would create a restaurant with an employee benefits package that included MORE than just wages. This turned out to be the kind of idea you might come up with while using hallucinogenic drugs.

Because, it turns out, the national average profit margin for restaurants is 4%. And if you are only one little restaurant in Hood River, the chance of you making a lie out of that statistic, and blowing way past 4% (especially when your ownership collides with a big, bad recession, in which the number one suggestion for saving money was to stop eating out) is not likely.

Thankfully, money isn’t the only thing in life. It does, however, appear to be the only thing that will buy a health insurance policy. And so we have not been able to buy that for our employees. And so we depend on something else.

When allergy season hit recently, Kathy went to Rite Aid. And Ben, the wonderful pharmacist there, who is a regular at Nora’s, helped Kathy pick out a variety of seasonally-adjusted pharmaceuticals to help the allergy-prone staff, and she brought them back to the first aid drawer.

“Consider it our health care plan,” she told Matt, while dumping the pills and throat lozenges into the drawer. Matt, new to the Gorge and our spring allergies, was happy for the pills and the advice. “Stu says this one here is really good,” Kathy told him. Matt said, “Well, I’ll give it a try, and give you a second opinion.”

See? Who needs doctors! We can try over-the-counter remedies and give each other second opinions! We remain hopeful that health care reform will ultimately make health care both MORE affordable and MORE available. Until then, we’ve got Dr. Ben and Dr. Stu and Dr. Matt.

Fab new dishes coming your way this week

So thrilling to have our farmers coming out of winter hibernation and showing up with boxes full of good green things. Here are some new dishes you’ll find on our plates this week:

Dinner

• House-smoked Idaho trout tostadas on house-made masa tortillas, lime tequila slaw, avocado mango pico de gallo
• Fresh Alaskan halibut cheeks, asparagus gratin, salad of pea tendrils and walking onions
• Mountain Shadow grilled lamb chops in mint cilantro chutney, buttery tomato saffron cream sauce and basmati rice
• Vegetarian entrée: Roasted cauliflower, Italian white bean with grana cheese and garlic confit, chimichuri sauce, fried currants, organic duck egg

Breakfast

• House-made chorizo-filled breakfast tamales, walnut white mole, peruano beans, eggs however you like them

7 + 7 Equals Eternal Daily Bliss

You know we’re open seven nights a week for dinner, right? It’s been a year now. And you know we’re open 3 days a week for breakfast, right?

But here’s the news: on May 3, we open 7 Days a Week for Breakfast. This is almost as good as the Eight Days a Week the Beatles sang about.

So beginning May 3, you won’t have to ask yourself, “When is Nora’s open again?” It’s just 7 + 7.  Come have breakfast AND dinner at the people’s choice “best restaurant food” and “best brunch.” (As voted by readers of the Gorge Guide.)

We’ll see you soon around Nora’s Table.

It’s the Triple Whammy Weekend

Come to Hood River this weekend (or if you’re a resident, just hang here at home), and you may need to breathe into a paper bag at some point. There is SO MUCH happening, hyperventilation is a possibility. So as Yoda would say, choose wisely.

Lucky for you, all your choices are most excellent. And here they are:

It’s Blossom Fest time! And the blossoms are in full bloom. Want to know what’s what and where’s where?  Get the Blossom Fest Guide here.

It’s Passport Weekend!  So many wineries, so few days. But with the passport, you’ve got the perfect plan at your fingertips. Get all the details here.

Enjoy terrific Passport privileges including free tastings, fantastic discounts, hors d’oeuvres, exclusive barrel sampling, vineyard tours, advance sampling of exciting new releases and reserve wines, live music and more. The Passport contains local lodging and dining offers, too. (Like ours: bring in a bottle of wine purchased during your Passport tour, and enjoy it with no corkage fee.) Purchase a Passport for $15.

It Gorge Artists Open Studios!  Over 30 artists are opening their studios for you. See where they work, watch them at work. And this year, the map is FREE. Pick one up at Waucoma Bookstore in down town Hood River. Read all about it here.

Tour up an appetite, see us for breakfast and dinner

These days, we’re seeing butternut squash and turnips in our rear view mirror. Not that we don’t have fond memories, but finally, some wonderful spring things are appearing. Here’s what’s new on our menu for breakfast and dinner. Can you say asparagus?

Breakfast

Alas, the butternut squash with sage and hazelnuts that has so many breakfast fans, are going away until next fall. Lucky for us, though, Yakima asparagus is in the house! And we’re serving it as a side dish, grilled with an herb and esplette pepper butter. Or, have the wonderful Blue Heaven Leaven toast from Blue Skies Bakery, with a nice shmeer of garlic confit and olive oil, grilled asparagus wrapped in lovely pancetta, with two poached eggs.

Also new this weekend: a three-egg frittata with kale, sweet potatoes and sharp cheddar, topped with bacon tomato jam. This luscious jam is so popular with our staff, especially the incomparable Ms. Edie Pfaff, our lead breakfast server,  that  they’ve even suggested a Bacon Jam-boree, a plate of various items (doesn’t really matter what items … old shoes would do nicely) smothered entirely in bacon tomato jam.

Dinner

To those of you STILL grumbling that we’ve sent the fish tacos on walk-about, we have some good news for you. OK, it’s not a taco, but close. Beginning Friday night, try this: smoked tombo tuna tostados on house-made masa tortillas with tequila crème fraiche slaw and mango avocado pico de gallo.

Also on the menu this weekend:

• Salad of prosciutto-wrapped grilled Yakama asparagus, pea tendrils, toasted cous cous, feta vinaigrette
• Kale raab, fried currants, lemon oregano sauce
• Halibut cheeks, asparagus gratin, pea tendrils and Quercus Farm walking onions. Yes, we did save the best for last.