Caribbean Beat — March/April 2020 (#162)

Nina Compton at work in the
kitchen at Compère Lapin
of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” she
recalls, but “Top Chef was actually a fun
experience.”
Season eleven was extremely competitive.
Compton reached the final, and was
pitted against Philadelphia chef Nicholas
Elmi — the contestant who fellow chefs
and viewers loved to hate, because of
his perceived lack of humility and bad
attitude. In the end, Elmi triumphed,
but Compton won the hearts of viewers
and TV critics, and was voted People’s
Choice.
Since then, life has been a whirlwind
for Compton and her husband and business
partner Larry Miller. The couple
moved from Florida to New Orleans after
falling in love with the city where some of
the Top Chef episodes were filmed. “The
culture was very similar to the Caribbean
but also very different,” Compton told
Bon Appetit. “New Orleans has a special
feel, that you don’t feel like you’re in the
States. It’s a fun environment, and people
are about life.”
In 2015, she opened her first restaurant,
Compère Lapin (named after the
rabbit character from Creole folktales), to
praise and accolades. In 2017, Compton
was named Best New Chef by Food and
Wine magazine and Compère Lapin was
also listed in Eater’s top thirty restaurants
in the US. In March 2018, she collaborated
with her sous chef Levi Raines to open
her second restaurant, Bywater American
Bistro, serving a menu that reflects
contemporary American cuisine. In May
2018, the hard work truly paid off, with
a coveted James Beard Award for Best
Chef: South.
Catching Nina Compton for an
interview is not easy — she has
some ridiculous working hours.
We eventually speak via Skype early one
Saturday morning before she heads to the
farmers’ markets.
She spoke about the demands of owning
two restaurants and the importance of
creating positive and respectful kitchens,
but she was most passionate about how
welcoming the people of New Orleans
have been to her, pointing out that the
African-American community has really
embraced her. “I’ve had people in the
black community approach me and help
uplift me,” she says. “People come to the
restaurant and say, ‘I came to the restaurant
because I wanted to support a black
woman and what she’s doing.’”
So what can an eager prospective eater
expect on the menu at Compère Lapin
— where the chef’s philosophy revolves
around the complexity of simplicity,
and the power of pure flavours? First
of all, don’t expect a Caribbean take on
Louisana’s most famous dish, gumbo.
“If I do something, I’m going to do
something different, and I want to bring
my Caribbean heritage so people can
understand where I am coming from,”
Compton says. “One of the dishes I have
on the menu at the moment is curry goat.
It’s something I grew up with, it’s my
comfort food.”
But although her Caribbean-influenced
menu has been a hit in New Orleans,
Compton is not sure if Caribbean food
can go mainstream in the near future.
“Caribbean food is so unique and different
islands have different things,” she
explains. “It’s hard, because you can’t put
a collection of Caribbean food together —
people say, jerk chicken is from Jamaica,
or this is from here. People still identify
certain things from particular islands.
“We need to be more universal, and
while every island is different, the islands
are also quite similar. I think there needs
to be a collective exploration of the
Caribbean, that’s what needs to happen.”
The forty-one-year-old believes that chefs
from the region are elevating our food, but
they need to draw more from history in
developing our regional cuisine.
As far as the future is concerned,
Compton seems set to stay in New
Orleans for the long term. Early in her
career, she thought of moving back to
St Lucia to open a restaurant by the sea,
but that is now a “retirement” plan.
“There’s a beautiful feeling when I
reach home,” she says. “As soon as I land,
there is no stress. The Caribbean, a lot of
people take it for granted. Every time I go
home, I think, man, this is where I’m from,
this is the land.” n
Find out more about chef
Nina Compton’s New Orleans
restaurants:
Compere Lapin
comperelapin.com
Instagram @comperelapin
Bywater American Bistro
bywateramericanbistro.com
Instagram @bywateramericanbistro
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