Evoking A Feeling of Home: Chef de Cuisine Kyle Perkins
March 13, 2024
For Kyle Perkins, Chef de Cuisine for Salt & Meadow, the new signature restaurant at the Tides Inn, his career isn’t just a job, it’s a complete lifestyle. “I picked it, and it picked me back, and I haven’t looked back since,” says Kyle, who attended the New England Culinary Institute and worked at acclaimed restaurants and resorts in Nantucket, Sunriver, Oregon and San Francisco. “It’s a part of me. I love the ability to educate people and display creativity and emotion through a physical object. For me, that object – or medium – is food.”
Kyle, who grew up in Indiana and later spent his formative years in Quechee, Vermont (about seven miles from Woodstock), admits he was always captivated by food. At a young age, he began helping in his parent’s backyard vegetable garden and experimenting in the kitchen. A few trips to Wee Willie’s in Indiana, a local breakfast spot, also sparked his culinary interest and introduced him to an open kitchen concept. But, after summer stints in eateries spanning a pizza joint, a fine dining restaurant, and a small inn, it became clear this was his path. “Working in restaurants was always exciting for me, as well as entertaining people through cooking food,” explains Kyle. “But to see the reactions on people’s faces when they get to eat the food I make, that’s the driving factor for me.”
Apart from heading up new coastal-inspired restaurant Salt & Meadow—menu highlights include line-caught Black Sea Bass from the Bay and Steamboat Wharf Oysters paired with champagne and microgreens from the property’s five-acre farm—the busy chef can be found creating sought-after dinner rolls (inspired by a “soft spot” for King’s Hawaiian rolls with a similar light, airy texture and a bit of crunch on top), or infusing hints of nostalgia with seasonal desserts such as profiteroles with banana pudding ice cream—a spin on a childhood treat made by his grandmother with ice cream and hot fudge.
“What I want is for guests to feel at home,” adds Chef Kyle. “Here at the Tides Inn, we attract visitors from all over. I just want them to feel like ‘wow, I’m at home,’ especially with our new restaurant opening later this spring.”
At Salt & Meadow, Chef Kyle will introduce menu items including line-caught Black Sea Bass from the Bay and Steamboat Wharf Oysters paired with champagne and microgreens from the property’s five-acre farm, overseen by the resort horticulturist. He also works closely with the resort’s ecologist to source the very best local seafood and to ensure sustainable practices, such as oyster shell recycling for the Tides Inn oyster reef.