Page 38 - South Mississippi Living - December, 2024

DINING VESTIGE
ADDRESS
715 Washington Ave. Ocean Springs
CONTACT
228.818.9699
SOCIAL
Facebook @vestigerestaurant
HOURS
Tuesday-Saturday 5:30 - 9 p.m.
story by Kimberly C. Rasmussen
photos by Kimberly C. Rasmussen and courtesy of Vestige
38 | December 2024
www.smliving.net | SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living
I’ve thought long and hard about how to best sum up this dining review. What was I going to write, I pondered? Sure, I write about food all the time, but this was different. What words would I have that could give proper homage to a two-time James Beard Best Chef Finalist?
Having always wanted to experience the mystery that is Vestige, I was so ready. Like, real ready. Definitely eager. Definitely intimidated. Definitely hungry. I had heard tales of the amazing food that I would experience, and my time had finally arrived.
The last five years of dining reviews led me to that very moment. And then I finally sat down, took one look at the menu and thought, “What in the Tony’s Chachere’s
is this?!” Words I have never seen before sprung up from the tasting menu, looked deep into my bewildered gaze and laughed, as if they knew I was some sort of culinary imposter. And I was. On every level. Life
has a way of humbling you at any instance and I quickly realized this was my time. Then, emerging from the kitchen like some great wizard from behind his curtain, was Chef Alex Perry who instantaneously expressed that I would be in for a real treat. And he was certainly correct.
A Vestige meal consists of a prix fixe menu of six exciting courses which change regularly as a way to keep things fresh
and keep patrons coming back for more.
I could dazzle you with foreign words
and detailed descriptions of hard-to-
find ingredients, but it simply wouldn’t
be authentic. Like, I didn’t spend hours Googling word after word of gastronomic importance. Instead, I can convey the beauty and realness that goes into each separate course with simple depictions that, at their core, make up what would turn out to be a one-of-a-kind, impeccably delicious meal.
I began with a succulent beignet of sorts