7 minute read
A Pilgrimage for Your Palate
A Pilgrimage for Your Palate:
Award-Winning Chefs in Coastal Mississippi
By Mimi Greenwood Knight
One of the toughest choices about residing on New Orleans’ Northshore is selecting which award-winning restaurant to visit—on either side of the lake. Let me complicate that decision further by introducing you to three award-winning dining experiences within an hour’s drive from St. Tammany’s easternmost border.
Honestly, how could the Mississippi Gulf Coast not foster innovative food artisans? Picture a place where the Gulf of Mexico merges with Mississippi River freshwater tributaries, providing an abundance of fresh fish, crab, shrimp, and oysters beyond most chefs’ imaginations. Add to that the proximity of New Orleans—a city renowned for its culinary culture—and steep it all in the mélange of international communities calling Coastal Mississippi home. The result? Standout cuisine.
White Pillars
Photos by Rory Dole, White Pillars
It was into this rich food culture that Austin Sumrall was born. With a South Louisiana mama and a Central Mississippi daddy, Alex remembers his family eating lunch while talking about what was for dinner then eating dinner and talking about what they’d do with the leftovers for breakfast. Those family meals were about more than sustenance. They were about fellowship. It’s that fellowship that Sumrall and his wife, Tresse, aspire to recreate at their White Pillars Restaurant in Biloxi.
Growing up, Sumrall spent cherished hours in the kitchen with his mom and grandmother, and once his grandparents opened a restaurant on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, he was exposed to the chaotic world of a commercial kitchen. Inspired by the frenzied environment, Sumrall abandoned his mechanical engineering studies for a degree in hotel and restaurant management.
He soon found himself trying to cram in the 23 hours he needed to graduate, working a full schedule at an Oxford restaurant, and still spending his free time throwing a dinner party for his friends. “That’s when I knew what I’d do with the rest of my life,” Sumrall said.
Sumrall’s culinary style revolves around local, seasonal, sustainably sourced seafood, meat, and produce, offering an authentic farm-to-table experience in an elegant, historic, beachfront home. “Sandwiched between one of the most nutrient-rich bodies of water in the world and Mississippi’s rich farm soil, we’re geographically in paradise,” Sumrall said. “Making friends with local farmers and fishers and letting their products guide my menu really helps, too.”
His passion for cooking has only intensified over time. Recognized as a semi-finalist by the prestigious James Beard Foundation and crowned “King of American Seafood” at the acclaimed Great American Seafood Cook-off, Sumrall’s success speaks volumes. Not bad for just doing what you love to do.
Vestige
A stone’s throw away on a tree-lined street in Downtown Ocean Springs, Chef Alex Perry and his wife, Kumi Omori, are putting their own spin on farm-to-table dining. A product of Ocean Springs, Perry didn’t discover his love of cooking until college. In fact, he swears he only started cooking to ward off scurvy in the dorm at University of South Alabama.
Perry took a job at NoJa Restaurant in Mobile and realized something. “Taking a big pile of raw stuff and turning it into nourishment never gets old,” he said. “NoJa’s owner, Chakli Diggs, was very open with me about the way the business runs—every nickel and dime of it. He allowed me to make mistakes on his dime and to discover the way I like to cook food. He generously taught me everything that goes into running a successful restaurant.” Perry has spent the last ten years putting those lessons to work at Vestige offering what he calls “casual fine dining”.
“We opened in a location everyone said was cursed,” he said. “The last three years have been the most fun for us. We decided, ‘Let’s cook the things we like to cook, the things that make us happy.’ We’ve found an audience that lets us do that and we’re thankful for it every day.”
What makes a meal at Vestige so memorable is more than just the daily five-course tasting menu with each offering more delicate and delectable than the last. It’s more than longtime staff who eulogize each course in prose that could, honestly, be set to music. It’s all of this plus the marriage of modern American cuisine, local coastal seafood, and traditional Japanese sensibilities from a chef who’s obviously having the time of his life creating it.
Perry’s talent and vision have earned him recognition as a two-time James Beard semi-finalist, acknowledging not only his culinary prowess but also the impact he and Omori have had on their region by offering locally and sustainably sourced food.
Food, Booze & Hiccups
PHOTOS CREDITS: JESSE JOHNSON OF JESSE JOHNSON PHOTOGRAPHY; KATHERINE SWETMAN OF SWETMAN CREATIVE
Michael and Stephanie Paoletti are challenging the notion that fine dining must be confined within four walls. Their pop-up restaurant culture has evolved into a unique experience in and around Ocean Springs, offering fine-dining popups showcasing local Mississippi seafood. “The pop-up culture was big in Florida, but when we moved home so our two boys could be near family, we noticed no one was doing it here,” Paoletti said. As luck would have it, his parents owned a grassy lot on Government Street in Downtown Ocean Springs. He and Stephanie threw up some posts, built some tables, and began offering fine-dining pop-ups showcasing local Mississippi seafood. They called it “Dinner on the Lot”. The response was overwhelming as locals began booking their own private parties or reservations at one of the Paoletti themed events.
Diners enjoy a four-to-six-course meal under the stars with a surprise menu dictated by the freshest ingredients available in the local market.
The Paolettis prepare the meals in front of their guests while interacting with them and even source the plates from local Gulf Coast potters. The highlight of every meal is Michael or Stephanie— often both—talking guests through each course, what inspired it, where they sourced the ingredients, and the techniques they used to create it.
“We want you to see, taste, smell, and feel every single aspect of our menu,” Michael said. “We cook what we like to eat, so we’re all over the map. Thai, Mediterranean, Vietnamese, we love to experience different cultures. Food is a great way to do that. And we rarely repeat a dish.”
Response to their Dinner on the Lot concept has been so robust that the Paolettis have expanded, offering their “fine dining that’s a little unrefined” right on the beach, complete with a bonfire, speakers, lights, and a portable kitchen. Recognized by Jackson County for their sustainability efforts, the Paolettis are painting their own culinary picture in Ocean Springs.
“Ocean Springs has always been artsy with locals like Walter and Peter Anderson,” Michael said. “Food is an artform. Stephanie and I are painting our own pictures. We’re just doing it with food.”
So, the next time you are considering where on the North or Southshore you’d like to eat, it might be time to take a road trip and get in on the culinary renaissance taking place in Coastal Mississippi. Bon appetite, y’all!
