WILLIAM WILKINSON

WILKINSON--William. Who brought style and humor and exacting standards to hotels and restaurants and the food business in the Bay Area for over 25 years, died on July 19 at his home in San Francisco. He was 68. Bill was born in The Bronx and raised in Yonkers. After graduating from hotel school at Paul Smiths College he began his career at Restaurant Associates. He left Restaurant Associates for a stint in the Navy, returning to civilian life as the assistant food and beverage manager at the Waldorf-Astoria. He left the Waldorf for a corporate job at Intercontinental Hotels. He traveled the world for Intercon before he went to Maui in 1975 to open the Intercon at Wailea as resident manager. In 1976 he came to San Francisco to become the general manager of the Stanford Court Hotel. During his five years there the property was one of the best hotels in the country and a center of the emerging American food scene. In 1981 he left to develop and operate the Campton Place Hotel. Both the hotel and its eponymous restaurant were immediate hits as were his cooks who included Jan Birnbaum, Bradley Ogden, George Marrone, Craig Stoll and Charlie Trotter. In 1989 he recreated Campton Place in downtown Los Angeles with the Checkers Hotel, where Jerry Comfort and later Thomas Keller served as chefs. After his business partners sold the hotels he bought Greenleaf Produce in 1993, building that business into the largest company on the San Francisco Produce Market. Bill was an active member of the community as well as a successful businessman. He served twice as the chairman of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and also served on the boards of the Ft. Mason Center, the Hotel Council, the local Salvation Army, and the Produce Market. He was known for his stories, his compassion, and most of all the grace with which he treated his employees and customers. He is survived by his partner of 33 years, Tom Given; his brother Tom Wilkinson of Albuquerque, NM; and his sisters Isabel Kimmel of Hawthorn, NY, Alice Soto of San Juan, PR and Julie Francis of Scottsdale AZ. Contributions to the National Parkinsons Foundation or Food Runners of San Francisco.