Who We Are
Hipp Kitchen, dedicated to creating safe and delicious dining and educational experiences for people with food allergies and sensitivities, was the creation of a San Francisco Bay Area professional nutritionist and a chef.
Owner and Executive Chef, Tom Herndon also owns a personal chef company in San Francisco called Full Fridge, loves abundant, flavorful food, and giving allergy sufferers the kinds of meals they never thought they could have again.
Tom Herndon, Owner
Chief Nutrionist on Call, Willie Victor has had food allergies her entire life and built a successful nutritional practice called Essentials for Health to help people understand how their diets are linked to their well-being.
Willie VictorOur Name
The name and logo for Hipp Kitchen are a nod to our original inspiration, Hippocrates, the ancient Greek philosopher known as the Father of Medicine, who famously stated “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”.
Both Willie and Tom saw that modern medicine, which relies primarily on pharmaceuticals, has lost sight of the power of food choices. For many people, the elimination of a few key ingredients can have a remarkable impact on their health. Allergens can be the cause of various chronic illness such as migraines, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and depression, and they can trigger the symptoms of many autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, and multiple sclerosis.
Our Mission
Hipp Kitchen’s commitment is to not only make available delicious meals free of gluten, dairy, peanuts, soy, and shellfish but, by doing so, to restore our customers to a state of vigor they may never have thought possible. The vision of Hipp Kitchen is a world without chronic illness; a world where people happily avoid the foods they should, knowing they can still enjoy good meals.
Our Story
Willie and Tom first met in a business networking group and she begain to refer her clients to Tom’s personal chef services. Very soon both she and Tom saw what great demand there was for good, allergen-free meals. They decided to join forces, and formed Hipp Kitchen to meet that need. Hipp Kitchen was introduced to the public on August 8, 2009, when Willie and Tom hosted a dinner to prove to people with allergies and sensitivities that it was possible for them to have a safe and indulgent dining experience.
Since then, we’ve produced five other events and extensively explored all of the possible ways to best serve those with food allergies. We’ve decided that because there such a dearth of prepared allergen-free foods, one sewrvice we will provide is producing and making available such food ourselves. We’re now in the start-up phase. Please stay tuned to learn about our plans and products.
