Doug Washington began his career in the restaurant business at the age of fifteen as a busboy in a French restaurant near his home in Vancouver, Canada. The owner, Helmut Petrak, took him in as his own son and taught him everything from dishwashing to accounting to cooking. Most importantly, he taught him service.

Five years later, with Helmut’s prompting, Doug moved to San Francisco and became a manager for Joyce Goldstein’s restaurant Square One. He left there to be the opening manager for Wolfgang Puck at Postrio in 1989. After three years, he left to open his own place with some partners—Vertigo Restaurant in the Transamerica pyramid building. “The name was not the only part we screwed up,” Doug admits wryly. It closed, but he learned a great deal from the experience. From there, he joined Traci Des Jardins and Pat Kuleto as their partner at Jardiniere Restaurant. After three years, Doug left and traveled for a year through the Middle East & Far East taking photographs (www.farthereast.com).

They had all worked together back at the opening of Postrio in 1989 and had always talked about opening their own place together. In 2003, with the intention of hosting a dinner party every night where everyone was invited, the three of them opened Town Hall, followed by Salt House and Anchor & Hope, all in San Francisco. The Irving Street Kitchen in Portland, Oregon is their latest endeavor at combining great food and wine with good company and gracious service.

When not at the restaurants, Doug can most likely be found at home with his wife, (artist) Freya Prowe (www.freyaprowe.com) and their three young children; Anja, Mara and Milo.

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