Out of the Ordinary by Kelli Colaco photos by Audrey Ma
OCAL NATIVE MICHAEL BECKMAN, Executive Chef of Workshop Kitchen + Bar in Palm Springs (with sister venue to open in LA any moment now) is a poet and storyteller. This is vibrantly apparent in his jaw-dropping sculptural venues and fresh-enigmatic menus.
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While studying English Literature at San Francisco State, Beckman wrote copious amounts of poetry and prose in his free time. While working as a dishwasher at the university to make ends meet, the chef asked Michael to fill in as a prep cook. And the rest, as they say, is history.
photo credit Michael Horta.
Not long after graduating from SFS Michael took the deep dive into proper culinary training and attended Paul Bocuse Institute in Lyon, France. Work at Maison
Lameloise in Chagny, France, and The Ritz Carlton in Berlin followed. Chef Beckman credits his six years working and living in France, Switzerland, and Germany as the experience that carved much of who he is as a chef and human being. On the cusp of Beckman and his team opening a second Workshop Kitchen + Bar in LA, as a nod to Beckman’s penchant for prose and poetry, we decided to take a cue from him and offer something out of the ordinary. The following is Chef Beckman’s content from our Q&A broken down in the form of prose poetry.
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