{"id":5369,"date":"2023-04-12T20:53:48","date_gmt":"2023-04-12T20:53:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.southernsmoke.org\/?post_type=chef&p=5369"},"modified":"2025-09-08T18:40:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T18:40:49","slug":"nina-compton","status":"publish","type":"chef","link":"https:\/\/southernsmoke.org\/zh_hk\/chef\/nina-compton\/","title":{"rendered":"Nina Compton"},"content":{"rendered":"

Winner of the 2018 James Beard \u201cBest Chef: South\u201d and semi-finalist for 2023 James Beard \u201cOutstanding Chef,\u201d Nina Compton is Chef\/Owner of award-winning restaurant <\/span>Comp\u00e8re Lapin<\/b> in New Orleans\u2019 Warehouse District. In March 2023, Compton opened <\/span>Nina\u2019s Creole Cottage<\/b> \u2013 a fast-casual restaurant in Caesar\u2019s New Orleans’ new celebrity chef food hall.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Born and raised in St. Lucia, Nina grew up with the flavors and beauty of the Caribbean.\u00a0 Upon completion of secondary school in England, she returned home where she decided to pursue her dream of becoming a chef. Her wary but supportive parents arranged an internship with a friend\u2019s hotel in Jamaica where she fell in love with the creativity and camaraderie of the kitchen. Leaving the cozy, warm winters of the Caribbean, Nina chose to move to chilly Hyde Park, NY to study at The Culinary Institute of America.<\/span><\/p>\n

Graduating in 2001 from America\u2019s finest culinary school, Nina began her professional journey at Daniel in New York City, working and continuing her culinary education alongside world renowned chef\/restaurateur Daniel Boulud and his team.<\/span><\/p>\n

After moving to Miami, she continued to work with the best, joining the crews of Norman Van Aken at the original\/iconic Norman\u2019s and eventually, Casa Casuarina, a private club and boutique hotel in Miami Beach where she rose from Sous Chef to Executive Chef of the small yet highly acclaimed property.<\/span><\/p>\n

With the excitement of the 2008 reopening of the refurbished Fontainebleau Miami Beach, combined with the chance to work with Scott Conant at Scarpetta, Nina leapt at the chance to join the pre-opening team as Sous Chef and went on to be appointed Chef de Cuisine, where she earned raves and accolades. During a star turn on BRAVO\u2019s acclaimed cooking competition show, <\/span>Top Chef New Orleans<\/span><\/i>, on which she was a finalist and fan favorite, Nina fell in love with the Crescent City. An empty space with no floors or ceilings but plenty of potential lured Nina to New Orleans, where she opened her first solo restaurant, Comp\u00e8re Lapin, at the Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery in the Warehouse District.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since opening in June 2015, Comp\u00e8re Lapin has received critical acclaim including <\/span>Eater National\u2019s<\/span><\/i> \u201cBest Restaurants in America;\u201d <\/span>Food & Wine\u2019s<\/span><\/i> \u201c40 Most Important Restaurants of the Past 40 Years;\u201d a rave review in <\/span>\u300a\u7d10\u7d04\u6642\u5831\u300b<\/span><\/i>; <\/span>Esquire\u2019s<\/span><\/i> \u201c40 Most Important Restaurants of the Decade;\u201d Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Award, Best U.S. Hotel Bar; and many others.<\/span><\/p>\n

At Comp\u00e8re Lapin, the talented toque creates robust dishes that meld the flavors of her Caribbean upbringing and love for French and Italian cuisine, while highlighting the Gulf and Louisiana\u2019s beautiful indigenous ingredients.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nina\u2019s Creole Cottage is Compton\u2019s first fast-casual concept and features affordable, heritage-inspired dishes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Compton\u2019s first book, <\/span>Kw\u00e9y\u00f2l \/ Creole: Recipes, Stories and Tings from a St. Lucian\u2019s Chef Journey <\/span><\/i>(Penguin Random House),<\/span> was published in April 2025 and is the story of her thrilling culinary journey from St. Lucia to Jamaica, Miami, and New Orleans. The thoughtful book explores the cuisines and places that have shaped the St. Lucian chef\u2019s unique culinary perspective.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":9121,"template":"","class_list":["post-5369","chef","type-chef","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southernsmoke.org\/zh_hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chef\/5369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southernsmoke.org\/zh_hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chef"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southernsmoke.org\/zh_hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chef"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southernsmoke.org\/zh_hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southernsmoke.org\/zh_hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}