For Kyle Perkins, Executive Chef of The Tides Inn, cooking is more than a career — it is a way of life. Raised in Indiana and later Vermont, his earliest memories include tending his parents’ backyard garden, experimenting in the kitchen, and watching breakfast sizzle in the open kitchen of a local diner. Summer jobs in eateries from pizza joints to fine dining confirmed his path, but it was the joy on guests’ faces that became his greatest motivation. A graduate of the New England Culinary Institute, Perkins refined his craft at acclaimed restaurants and resorts in Nantucket, Sunriver, and San Francisco before bringing his talents to Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay.

At The Tides Inn, Perkins leads Salt & Meadow, a coastal-inspired restaurant showcasing line-caught Black Sea Bass, Steamboat Wharf Oysters, and produce from the property’s own five-acre farm. He draws on memory as much as technique — from dinner rolls inspired by childhood favorites to desserts like banana pudding profiteroles in honor of his grandmother. For Perkins, the goal is simple yet profound: to make every guest feel at home, wherever they’ve traveled from, and to serve them food that lingers in memory long after the last bite.