MS Coast restaurant honored at James Beard Awards as one of nation’s 5 best restaurants
This year’s winner of the James Beard award for Best Restaurant in the United States is — Langbaan in Portland, Oregon.
South Mississippi was pulling for hometown favorite Vestige, a small restaurant in a former bookstore in downtown Ocean Springs.
Owners Alex Perry, a native of Ocean Springs, and his wife Kumi Omori, from Japan, were among those honored at Monday’s awards ceremony — comparable to the Oscar Awards for restaurants and chefs — at the elegant Lyric Opera in Chicago. Instead of chef coats, the nominees were dressed up in formal attire.
Just to be nominated as one of the semi-finalists in the James Beard Best Restaurant category is something they never dreamed about at this stage in their career, the couple posted on Facebook in January when Vestige was named one of 20 semifinalists for restaurant of the year.
“Never in a million years did we think we’d get to this stage,” they said, and credited their staff.
Then Vestige was named one of the top 5 finalists in the country.
Top Restaurant nominees
The local chefs shared the spotlight Monday with the other four nominees, three from major U.S. cities — The Compound, in Santa Fe, New Mexico; Langbaan in Portland, Oregon, and Mixtli in San Antonio, Texas. The fourth nominee was Convenience West of Marfa, a small city in West Texas.
“We’ve eaten at The Compound in Santa Fe, it is fabulous, but for innovative fusion cuisine, resplendent with umami, Vestige is the pinnacle!” commented Robert Johnson on Facebook.
“Going to Vestige is an amazing experience,” and “Still one of the best meals I’ve ever had!” were among the other comments.
This wasn’t the first time the restaurant was honored by the James Beard Foundation, one of the most prestigious honors in the restaurant industry. Perry, a Le Cordon Bleu College graduate, has been nominated three times before for a James Beard award.
Exceptional food and community
The award honors those who are creating exceptional food while supporting community and sustainability.
A few days before the awards presentation in Chicago, Vestige took part in the Firefly Supper to benefit neighboring Walter Anderson Museum of the Arts in Ocean Springs.
“We had such a great time cooking with friends and colleagues,” they posted on Facebook, “while helping to raise money and awareness for the vital work the museum does in bringing art education to the community.”
The couple originally planned to open their restaurant in Charleston, South Carolina, but the high cost of space there — and the perfect historic house at 715 Washington Ave. in Ocean Springs — convinced them to locate in Perry’s hometown in 2013.
Vestige is a Coast surprise
The restaurant has evolved since then.
“In mid 2020 we made the decision to switch from an a la carte to a set tasting menu, unsure how it would be received, but knowing it’s what we needed to do to progress the restaurant after 8-plus years of operation,” the owners posted.
The menu is determined by the freshest seasonal ingredients and it challenges those who dine there to try something they’ve likely never had before, like foie gras croustade or Gulf wild caught red snapper and crawfish mousseline.
The five-course tasting menu is $99, and is very much farm to table with locally-sourced fish and produce like Mississippi shiitake mushrooms with the char-grilled venison and fresh edible flowers on the early summer menu.
