– where dinner is served amidst classic 1920’s architecture and mountain views
Chef/Owner - Michael Beckman
Chef de Cuisine - David Johns
Sous Chef - Isaiah Ross
Sous Chef - Isaiah Vela
Pastry Chef - Dominique Perez
Bar Lead - Ryan Mendez
Wine Director - Charles Bauer
Press
“peak-season produce for wood-fired dishes like a flat iron aupoivre”
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The modern Workshop Kitchen & Bar, where the wall are concrete and fries are cooked in duck fat.
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Gail Simmons explores California’s delicious culinary scene. Her first stop is Workshop Kitchen & Bar where she chats with Chef Michael Beckman.
Workshop
About
Chef Michael Beckman and Chef Joe Mourani met while studying at the Paul Bocuse Institute in Lyon, France.
In 2012, they partnered together to repurpose the 1926 historic El Paseo building in the Palm Springs Design District, a space with a varied and rich history.
The desert's first theatre in the 1930's through the 1950's, it was also home to the Palm Springs City Council from 1944 to 1948 and more recently housed a Design Within Reach showroom.
The chefs then partnered with New York-based architect and artist Michel Abboud, and together they converted the space into a temple of modernist concrete.
The project retained the elegance of the existing space, by enhancing its verticality.
The legacy of the site initially limited the possibilities of the design, but the constraints were ultimately exploited to Workshop's advantage.
The project retained the elegance of the existing space, by enhancing its verticality.
The concrete furniture stands in immediate contrast to the white existing building.
In the center aisle, a large communal dining table acts as a more public dining space, while large concrete booths provide a more intimate dining setting.
Additionally, a private dining area at the rear of the space allows guests to dine at the monolithic altar piece. Lighting design by PS-Lab in Beirut elegantly compliments the brutalist interior.
(noun, masculine)
Plural ateliers
The name Workshop is derived from the French word “I’atelier”, which translates to “workshop”, “loft”, or “studio”. All of which reference a creative space for artists, smiths or craftsmen, or in our case creative minded chefs and service professionals.
Atelier
Workshop Kitchen and Bar opened on September 22, 2012 and in 2013 the London-based Restaurant & Bar Design Awards named Workshop “Best Design for the Americas” followed by an “Outstanding Restaurant Design, 76 Seats & Over” win in 2015 by the James Beard Foundation.
Guided by the six years he spent learning the techniques and philosophies of chefs and kitchens throughout Switzerland, France, and Germany, Chef Michael draws his inspiration from California’s diversity and abundant farmer’s market produce.
He has a passion for cooking over wood and the flavors of the wood-fired oven. Seafood is sourced from the Dory Fleet at the Newport pier, while poultry and dairy come from sustainable farms in Hemet. The kitchen team manages their own small gardens of herbs and flowers and house pickling, ferments, and dry aging make frequent appearances on the menu.
For true food lovers, Workshop Kitchen and Bar is a reason enough to plan a trip to the desert.
The majority of our gardening is at chef Michael’s home in Rancho Mirage, but we tend a large planter bed just behind the kitchen at Workshop as well.
Our humus and mineral rich chef’s garden utilizes volcanic rock dust, worm casting and bio char to grow nutrient dense vegetables and terpene rich, aromatic herbs.
The Team
Helmed by Chef/Owner Michael Beckman, along with partner Joseph Mourani, the 2015 James Beard Award winning restaurant for best restaurant design features a market-driven menu comprised of seasonal food highlights harvested from local farms and offers a bar program unlike any other desert establishment.
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A SoCal native, Michael Beckman has not only witnessed the drastic evolution of dining in Southern California, he has been instrumental in its course, joining rank with his Workshop Kitchen and Bar.
Michael Beckman
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Charles grew up on a small farm in northeastern Colorado that grew crops like blue corn, alfalfa hay, and beans. He and his brother raised sheep together that they took to 4-H livestock competitions.
These experiences gave him a strong connection to food at an early age, and bartending and managing a small place in Chicago convinced him that hospitality would be his career. He has worked at both Next and the 2-Michellin starred Sixteen in Chicago, and at Dialogue and Pasjoli in Los Angeles before moving to the desert. He finds Palm Springs calming and centering and you'll find him on long runs through the cities' neighborhoods or on hiking trails looking for bighorn sheep, Cooper's hawks, and coyotes.
Charles
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Chef David's love for cooking was inspired by weekly Sunday visits at his grandma's house in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His humble teen-age beginnings at a local restaurant led to his studies in hospitality management at the University of Delaware, and then to an early career with a prolific Pittsburgh restaurant group.
Chef went on to broaden his skills in Madrid, Spain at the two-Michelin star Sergi Arola Gastro where he moved from stagier to tournant; to Westouter, Belgium where he was chef de cuisine at the biodynamic farm pop-up Boergondie.
Johns returned home where he continued with the Big Burrito Restaurant Group at Eleven and Soba before working alongside chef Trevett Hooper at the Pittsburg darling Legume Bistro.
Inspired by the Los Angeles culinary scene, David moved out west where he was Executive Sous at the Rose Café in Venice Beach and went on to open a handful of restaurants with the H.Wood Group in Dubai, Miami and Santa Monica.
David recently moved to Palm Springs where he met chef Michael, who was quick to recognize David's talent around the plate, along with a shared sensibility for the craft and ethos, leading to his current role as Workshop's chef de cuisine.
Away from the stoves chef enjoys hiking in the desert mountains, swimming, live music and film.
David Johns
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With 29 years of hospitality, events, and live music experience across Southern California, Rachel has demonstrated a true passion for the industry. She started her journey working at the Galaxy Concert Theater during her senior year in high school.
She became equally as obsessed with food and beverage as she was with music, and forged her path through both of these worlds simultaneously. Working for Ace Hotel (Palm Springs and New Orleans), The Standard Hotel, AWE Bar, Beauty Bar, Cinespace, Star Shoes, among many others, Rachel contributed to these brands' identities through events, programming and management. Inspired by the weird and wonderful desert, she relocated to Yucca Valley in 2007. Now living with her two dogs and her boyfriend, she loves to spend her free time playing music in her band Starlight Cleaning Co., traveling, tasting wine and cooking.
Rachel
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Coming Soon…
Joe
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Kevin was born in Palm Springs and raised in the Coachella Valley. His grandmother worked at the El Paso silent movie theater which formerly occupied the Workshop restaurant space. He developed a love for craft beer and cocktails as a young bartender and has studied in both the Cicerone and Bar Smarts programs. If you hang out at the bar, he's as likely to tell you a story about his girls as he is the history of your cocktail.
Kevin
EVENTS
When it comes to events, it is truly all about the details. We understand that event planning is a lot of work, especially so for the most memorable of occasions. Workshop aims to coordinate your event with ease including our seasonally focused menus for every style of event, working with you to design the perfect evening.
We host a wide variety of special events in our historical spaces. From our James Beard award winning dining room to our Spanish eclectic courtyard, our spaces lend themselves to any style of event ranging from the smallest intimate occasion to the grandest soirée. For especially large events, reserve Workshop all to yourself for complete access to an exclusive experience. We offer family share style tasting menu options for every occasion where everyone can gather again at Workshop.
For more information, including pricing and availability, please complete the Event Inquiry form and a member of our team will reach out to you promptly.
Contact our event manager directly at eventsps@workshopkitchenbar.comor any member of our management team at palmsprings@workshopkitchenbar.com.
CATERING
Workshop Kitchen & Bar will also work with you to design a custom menu to perfectly suit your expectations for your event. Whether we take over your kitchen or travel with ours, we offer an array of options including family share and plated dinners, cocktail receptions and even portable pizza parties offsite.
For any occasion, including pricing and availability for on or offsite events, submit an Event Inquiry below. You can contact our event coordinator at eventsps@workshopkitchenbar.comor any member of our management team at palmsprings@workshopkitchenbar.com
Give us all the details about your next event
Inquire about our sister bar Truss & Twine located right next door for your events as well.
Get in
touch
800 N Palm Canyon Dr
Palm Springs
CA 92262, United States
760.459.3451
palmsprings@workshopkitchenbar.com
Opening Hours
Sunday Brunch
Everyday
- 10am-2pm
- 5pm-10pm
Press
Write to
palmsprings@workshopkitchenbar.com for media inquiries.
@2026
Workshop Kitchen – Bar, LLC.
All rights reserved.