Chef Alex says they use a lot of fermenting and preservation to paint a different picture of what coastal cuisine can be. This gradual evolution is the inflection point to where they are now, with an ever-changing menu using what grows here, both farmed and wild. Vestige always has believed in the seasonality, sustainability and locality of ingredients, which combined naturally with the Japanese aesthetic, flavors and techniques they began infusing into their cuisine. They incorporate a lot of that into hyper-seasonality, and a lot of times, it’s done kind of minimalistic. “It’s not just using what grows in the region,” Chef Alex says, “but sometimes showing what that day looks like, or what a memory from your childhood looks like, on a plate. This got him interested in the Japanese naturalistic feel of cooking. Kumi, who grew up in small village in northern Japan and creates most of the breads and desserts Vestige offers, often would give Chef Alex Japanese cookbooks for Christmas. They’ve used locally sourced, farm-fresh ingredients from the start, but Vestige initially served dishes that would qualify as Southern cuisine. “That was sort of a guiding philosophy when we first opened - putting this really good experience together of producing great memories.” “We wanted our restaurant to produce the vestige of the meal you had - how you remember it, and how you are remembering us. “There’s a monetary investment, but it is kind of there, and then it’s gone,” Chef Alex says. The name Vestige, which is defined as the trace of something that is disappearing or no longer exists, comes from Chef Alex and Kumi’s desire to play off of what people have when they go out to dinner. Returning to Ocean Springs to regroup in 2013, they settled in a location they love and have since made their modern American eatery a must visit. After working in Mobile for many years, they considered various places to open their own restaurant but couldn’t find anywhere that felt right.
Vestige is owned and operated by Ocean Springs native Chef Alex Perry and his wife, Kumi Omori, who met at a friend’s birthday party shortly after Perry graduated from the Le Cordon Bleu-accredited Orlando Culinary Academy. The award-winning Vestige in Ocean Springs has refined its culinary style over the past seven years - earning acclaim and making the restaurant a foodie favorite for locals and tourists alike.
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