Growing up among the gardens of St. Lucia, chef and restaurateur Nina Compton only knew the taste of fresh food. “Farm-to-table was how you ate,” she says. “It wasn’t something to become aware of later in life.” It’s possible that this early exposure to quality flavor and ingredients is what fueled Compton’s natural prowess in the kitchen. After finishing boarding school in the UK, Compton, with help from her mother, landed a kitchen job at a Sandals resort in St. Lucia where she excelled on the line. Then, at the encouragement of the resort chef, she attended the Culinary Institute of America (CIA).
Upon graduating, Compton was immediately thrust into the kitchen of culinary titan Daniel Boulud. “It definitely showed me what commitment to quality and execution looked like,” she says. “It taught me to work hard, harder than I had thought possible.” Compton went on to train with other greats like Norman Van Aken and Scott Conant, who informed her eclectic cooking style. “I’m an island girl who was trained by the best,” she says. “Combine those influences and techniques with my adopted home of New Orleans, with its Creole influences and great seafood and farms, and that’s my style.”
Artwork brightens the exposed brick that surrounds the dining room at the Parts and Labor-designed Compère Lapin
As Compton’s profile bloomed, she emerged as a rare woman of color in an industry disproportionately populated with white men and big egos. “I came up in the time that there were not a lot of women, and certainly not women of color, rising up in the ‘important’ kitchens,” Compton says. “Instead of that holding me back, I used it to help me become the boss I wanted to be in the future.” Now at the helm of New Orleans eateries Compère Lapin and Bywater American Bistro, she has learned to think collectively, adding, “I have 120 people at work who have bought into my vision of quality and service to the guest. I can’t let myself down, but I really can’t let them down.”
Her unique repertoire earned Compton a spot in the cast of Top Chef’s 11th season in New Orleans. She won the opening challenge, impressing the judges with a dish of curried turtle meatballs, and made it to the finale as the runner-up. “It gave me a chance to show all my influences combined without being confined to the cuisine of an individual restaurant,” she says.
Amid COVID, Compère Lapin remains shuttered while Bywater American Bistro is operational at half capacity. But the resiliency of the Big Easy and its culinary community fosters optimism in Compton as she navigates these uncertain times. “It is the most cohesive and supportive group of chefs and owners and cooks and managers that I’ve ever seen,” Compton says. “Everyone supports everyone else.”
An art-filled private dining space at Compère Lapin
Photos by Joshua Brasted
This article originally appeared in HD’s November 2020 issue.
