Chef’s Journey: It’s A Long Way From Per Se To Port Townsend

Chef Deborah Taylor began her career at some of New York City’s most high-profile restaurants, working in the kitchens at Eleven Madison Park, Per Se and Hearth. Then, the tug of the West Coast began pulling. Years later, she and her husband, Scott, realized their dream of having their own restaurant.

Here’s what you need to know about Finistère, a lovely neighborhood place in Port Townsend, Wash., and the unlikely journey that brought the couple to this remote spot on the map.

It’s all about doing the hard work

While attending the Culinary Institute of America, Taylor landed an internship at Eleven Madison Park. There, she clicked with Jason Franey, Daniel Humm’s executive sous chef.

Taylor earned a rep for being organized and hard-working. While soaking up the lessons learned on the French-style brigades, she met her husband, Scott Ross, who works front of the house. Eventually, she took a break from fine dining to work for Marco Canaro at the rustic-chic Hearth. “I got burned out on the fine dining thing,” she said in a recent interview. “I really loved working with Marco.”

Around that time, she and Scott started talking about moving to the Pacific Northwest, where Scott’s family lives. She reached out to Franey, who was then executive chef at the celebrated Seattle institution, Canlis, and landed a job.

By 2013, her contributions as executive sous chef garnered attention, were getting noticed. She was featured on Eater’s lineup of The New Guard.

Two years later, the couple had a baby and after she came back to work part-time at Canlis, she began thinking about helming a kitchen. Which is how she ended up working at Ethan Stowell’s Staple & Fancy, drawn by the challenge of creating tasting menus.

Still, there were bigger fish to fry. She and Scott wanted to open their own place. “We looked at cities all over the Northwest,” she said. When friends moved to Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula, she and Scott started visiting and fell for the place.

Through word-of-mouth, they heard about a space that wasn’t yet on the market. After putting together some crowd-sourced financing, they bought the business and pulled off a DIY update. “We built the bar and laid tile,” she said.

Finistère opened in 2017. “We weren’t sure how we’d be received in the beginning,” she said. “We didn’t want to be seen as a destination restaurant. We wanted to be a neighborhood place.”

Judging by the happy full house on a recent fall evening, mission accomplished.

Here’s what you can’t miss

Scanning the single-sheet dinner menu, it’s clear there are way too many tempting options. That starts with bar snacks such as the spectacular sweet potato and pancetta croquettes, crispy golden bites that envelope molten gruyère. It’s tempting to make a meal out of those, but then you’d miss the dreamy pimento cheese served with fried saltines and quick pickled cukes. Oh, my.

Oysters on the half shell are sourced locally and burst with briny freshness of the sea, complemented by shaved horseradish and a spot-on migonette. Or, order them fried, accompanied by Pimenton aioli, pickled peppers and fennel.

Conversation-stopping deviled eggs, smoked salmon dip with buckwheat chips and velvety Kuri squash soup are among the additional starters that make a good case for first course piling on, and savvy regulars do make a point of hitting the popular happy hour to get a good graze.

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Large plates can easily be passed around, family-style, though some might be reluctant to share bites of the exceptional Cape Cleare salmon sourced directly from Alaska fisherfolk. It’s cooked medium rare and finished in a gorgeous maltaise sauce, the citrus notes balancing the ultra-richness of the dish.

A seared duck breast with super creamy mashed potatoes and tender sauteed spinach is another standout, the skillfully cooked bird soaring when slid through the fig gastrique. Such a fitting expression of fall flavors.

If you’re feeling too full to manage dessert, there’s some good news. Much of what appears on the tempting list of sweets is available Wednesday through Sunday at Lawerence Street Provisions, the restaurant’s gourmet gift shop and bakery next door.

Enjoying a memorable meal at Finistère might prompt visitors to start scanning properties in Port Townsend, thinking about making the move to this special spot. You’d be in good company. This place has become a hot spot for retirees and remote workers. There are currently fewer than 40 homes listed on Redfin.

“We’re really grateful we were kind of ahead of the curve, making the move out here when we did,” Taylor said.

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