our team

Tony Kischner began his restaurant career in 1967 with a college summer job as a dishwasher and busboy at Ivar’s Acres of Clams, a popular tourist attraction on the Seattle waterfront.  After four summer seasons, he was promoted to dining room manager.  Drawn to a finer dining environment, he secured a position as a waiter at Jonah and the Whale, a renowned elegant restaurant in Bellevue, where he was “required” to taste each bottle of wine before he served it (and which allowed him to quickly expand his knowledge and experience).  Three years later, he was promoted to dining room manager.  In 1976, he was offered the prestigious position of dining room manager, wine steward and cellarmaster at Seattle’s nationally-famous Rosellini’s Other Place, where he was in full charge of purchasing and maintaining an extensive and award-winning international collection of 1,200 wines.

In 1981, bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, Tony and his wife Ann purchased the small restaurant at the historic Shelburne Inn in Seaview, WA and moved to the Long Beach Peninsula with their two young daughters.  In 1986, they expanded the dining room, added an English-style pub and renamed it The Shoalwater, which became a renowned bastion of Northwest cuisine and wine for 27 years.

In September 2007, Tony and Ann opened The Bridgewater Bistro on the Astoria riverfront just below the bridge to Washington.   They continue to focus on taking great care of their guests and promoting and serving local and regional foods and wines.