Fry Bread House wins restaurant "Oscar"

Fry Bread House in Phoenix wins James Beard award

By Howard SeftelCecelia Miller of the Tohono O'odham Nation opened her first Fry Bread House in 1992, using the same fry-bread recipes and techniques she learned as a child.

She tops the hand-stretched, deep-fried dough with such savory toppings as red chile stew and chorizo and cheese, and her dessert fry bread with a killer combination of butter and chocolate.

Her food has always won praise from her customers. Now her restaurant has been ranked by culinary experts as among the best in the country.

Fry Bread House on Tuesday was one of five restaurants nationwide to receive an "America's Classics" designation from the prestigious James Beard Foundation, which hands out the restaurant industry's version of the Academy Awards each year. It is the first Native American restaurant to receive the designation since the awards were started in 1998.Comment:  For more on frybread, see Off the Rez Food Truck and More than Frybread Seeks Funding.