Owner Felix Tipper has brought his skills in home cooking to downtown Palm Springs with Tipper’s Gourmet Marketplace.
Tipper and his husband Eric Johnson have always enjoyed entertaining friends during their almost 13 years together, which provided the inspiration to create a business that incorporated cooking and hospitality.
Tipper’s is both a cafe and takeout location, a nice mix for a Greater Palm Springs market that caters to year-round and second-home residents. “People want to pick up quality, prepared food to entertain in their homes,” Tipper says. “I wanted to offer a few little one-stop shop tricks and also have a menu available for customers to eat in so that it is a neighborhood place where people will come and hang out.”
After searching for more than six months, he says the space in the Henry Frank Arcade, “chose him. It had been sitting there and it finally clicked when I visualized that I could open it up to include a patio. I think it has a New York/Euro feel.”
Plans are to offer weekend brunch from the breakfast menu, with its breakfast sandwiches on bread and bagels, breakfast bowls, and quiche. Breakfast is served all day.
“My recipes are memories,” explains Tipper. “The Italian Breakfast Bowl was something I came up with for a prewedding slim down before my husband and I were married. The Brie and Prosciutto Baguette Sandwich and quiches remind me of our trip to the South of France.”
Tipper’s Gourmet Marketplace is tucked into the back of the Henry Frank Arcade building. Look for the sign at the entrance on Palm Canyon Drive.
Salads, sandwiches, and breakfast bowls are all made to order. Tipper’s is working to coordinate a delivery service for breakfast or lunch meetings, and its grab-and-go case will grow to include packaged meals like salads, hummus, sandwiches, and pastries.
The market offers a selection of wines, beers, and other beverages, as well as cookies, crackers, and condiments. A cheese array is in the works along with olives, jams, and other prepared items made by local food vendors.
Tipper wants people to know that this is a community-centric spot. “When you come in, let us take care of you. We want you to feel like you have come into our home and we are here for you all.”
Start the day with breakfast sandwiches ordered in or wrapped to go. Candied bacon, house-made sausage, eggs and cheese are popular fillings.
Tipper’s Gourmet Marketplace, 276 N. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, 760-322-6666; www.tippersgourmetmarketplace.com
Lori Cohen-Sanford is a private/personal chef, cooking class instructor and owner of Nourishfoods Organic Meal Services — www.nourishfoods.biz. Follow her on Twitter: @nourishfoodsps.