Nina Compton is a James Beard award winning Saint Lucian

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

currently living in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

Career

Nina graduated from the

Culinary Institute of America The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is a private culinary school with its main campus in Hyde Park, New York, and branch campuses in St. Helena and Napa, California; San Antonio, Texas; and Singapore. The college, which was the first to ...

in Hyde Park. She began her professional journey at Daniel in New York City, working and continuing her culinary education alongside world renowned chef/restaurateur

Daniel Boulud Daniel Boulud (born 25 March 1955) is a French chef and restaurateur with restaurants in New York City, Palm Beach, Miami, Toronto, Montréal, Singapore, the Bahamas, and Dubai. He is best known for his eponymous restaurant Daniel, opened in Ne ...

and his team. After moving to Miami, she joined the crews of Norman Van Aken at the original/iconic Norman’s then Philippe Ruiz at Palme d’Or at the historic

Biltmore Hotel Bowman-Biltmore Hotels was a hotel chain created by the hotel magnate John McEntee Bowman. The name evokes the Vanderbilt family's Biltmore Estate, whose buildings and the gardens within are privately owned historical landmarks and tourist attra ...

. Eventually Nina moved to Casa Casuarina, a private club and boutique hotel in Miami Beach where she rose from Sous Chef to Executive Chef. During the 2008 reopening of the refurbished

Fontainebleau Miami Beach The Fontainebleau Miami Beach, also known as the Fontainebleau Hotel, is a hotel in Miami Beach, Florida, United States. Designed by Morris Lapidus, the luxury hotel opened in 1954. In 2007, the Fontainebleau Hotel was ranked ninety-third in th ...

, combined with the chance to work with Scott Conant at Scarpetta, Nina joined the pre-opening team as Sous Chef and went on to be appointed Chef de Cuisine. Compton competed on Season 11 of ''

Top Chef ''Top Chef'' is an American reality competition television series which premiered on Bravo in March 2006. The show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges. The contestants are judged by a panel of professional chefs ...

''. She was the ''Top Chef'', Season 11 runner up and was voted fan favorite by viewers. In June 2015, Compton opened her own restaurant in New Orleans, Louisiana, Compère Lapin. Compère Lapin serves Caribbean-style cuisine and is located in the

New Orleans Central Business District The Central Business District (CBD) is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The CBD is a subdistrict of the French Quarter/CBD area. Its boundaries, as defined by the City Planning Commission are Iberville, De ...

. In March 2018, Compton opened Bywater American Bistro in New Orleans with Husband/Partner Larry Miller and Chef/Partner Levi Rains.

Awards

In 2017, Compton was honored with the "Best New Chef" award in

Food & Wine ''Food & Wine'' is an American monthly magazine published by Dotdash Meredith. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine pairings and sea ...

magazine. Her restaurant Compère Lapin was named one of America's 38 Best Restaurants by

Eater Eater may refer to: * Eater (band), an English punk rock group * "Eater" (''Fear Itself''), a 2008 episode of the NBC television horror anthology ''Fear Itself'' * ''Eater'' (novel), a 2000 science fiction novel by Gregory Benford * ''Eater'' ( ...

in 2017. In 2018, Compton won the

James Beard Foundation The James Beard Foundation is an American non-profit culinary arts organization based in New York City. It was named after James Beard, a food writer, teacher, and cookbook author. Its programs include guest-chef dinners to scholarships for asp ...

award for Best Chef: South.

Personal life

Compton is married to Larry Miller. She is the daughter of Sir John George Melvin Compton, who served as Prime Minister of Saint Lucia on three occasions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Compton, Nina American women restaurateurs American restaurateurs 1978 births Living people Children of prime ministers Saint Lucian emigrants to the United States American women chefs Naturalized citizens of the United States James Beard Foundation Award winners Chefs from New Orleans 21st-century American women Culinary Institute of America Hyde Park alumni