“St. Lucia native Nina Compton fell in love with New Orleans while filming BRAVO’s Top Chef Season 11: New Orleans (she grabbed the runner-up spot and was voted fan favorite). In 2015, she returned to the city to open Compère Lapin at the Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery. Since then, the requests for reservations have been non-stop along with the deserved acclaim. The success of Compere Lapin lead Compton to open a second restaurant, Bywater American Bistro, in the spring of 2018.”
“Trained in the French tradition at the Culinary Institute of America, Nina mixes the rich culinary traditions of New Orleans with those of her Caribbean roots. She was named one of Food & Wine magazine’s "Best New Chefs 2017.” Along with receiving a rave review from The New York Times, Compère Lapin was named “Best New Restaurant” by both New Orleans Magazine and The Times-Picayune. And then in 2018, she took home the prestigious James Beard Foundation Award for "Best Chef: South.”
“Nina began her career at Daniel in New York City, alongside Chef Daniel Boulud. From there, she joined Norman Van Aken in Miami at Norman’s. Next up, was a stint with Philippe Ruiz at Palme d’Or at the historic Biltmore Hotel. Then Nina moved to Casa Casuarina in Miami Beach where she rose to the rank of executive chef. Before settling in New Orleans, she was chef de cuisine at the Italian restaurant Scarpetta at Fontainebleau Miami Beach. There the “Gnocchi Queen” worked with celebrity chef and restaurateur Scott Conant.”
Chef Nina was one of the distinguished Host Chefs (and Judge) for the recent Bocuse d’Or Americas competition in New Orleans.
Chef Nina is one of the high-profile chefs with a tasting station at the upcoming L.A. Loves Alex’s Lemonade benefit on Saturday, October 5th at the Royce Quad at UCLA.
Chef Nina Compton takes another break from her busy kitchens to continue with us.
Hi, I'm Sherry Yard, a Los Angeles advisory board for Careers to Culinary Arts program. When I want the absolute best in Food 411, I listen to the SoCal Restaurant Show right here on AM830KLAA. And welcome back. It is the SoCal Restaurant Show, and we're here with you every Saturday morning from 10 a.m. until 12 noon, right here on AM830KLAA, the home of Angels Baseball 2024, and it can also catch us on the AM830KLAA Angels app. I'm Andy Harris, the executive producer and co-host of the show, Little Late and Turning on My Microphone, and we're enthusiastically presented each and every week by Melissa's World Variety Produce and West Coast Prime Meats. We're jetting back to New Orleans, and we are speaking with celebrity chef Nina Compton, her two restaurants there are Compare Le Pan in the more casual, bi-water American bistro. It's a touch of creole flavors with, I think, accents from St. Lucilla. We'll get the skinny on the menu from Nina directly, and it is a pleasure to welcome Nina Compton back to the show. Nina, how would you describe the food at Compare Le Pan? Because they're creole influences, but it's not a traditional New Orleans-type menu, and of course, unique and appealing. Yeah, so the food at Compelitan is, you know, a celebration of all Caribbean cuisine. You know, the Caribbean is multiple islands, but also has very different influences. So when we talk about St. Lucilla, the influences are French, African, English, Indian, and then we also have the Amor Indian as well. So we definitely celebrate that cuisine, but also I live in Jamaica for quite some time, so there's definitely a nod to my time in Jamaica. Like that is also from the Grenadines and Dinsons, so we have done a lot of traveling throughout the Caribbean and just really showcasing the undiscovered issues that people may not know about and having on the menu. But also, you know, when people talk about creoles in your, you know, we don't have, we don't have gumbo in the menu, we don't have SSA, but we celebrate also the local ingredients, so beautiful oysters, beautiful crawfish, lovely crab, and, you know, what I love about living in New York is that people love bites, so we have very layered dishes that are so sweet from the menu as well. And definitely quite a variety for the Victory celebration for Team USA, which was on June 13th, you put out Chef Nina quite a menu. A lot of it served family style so we could enjoy a lot of taste. One of the first dishes that really attracted my attention was the jerk port belly. Tell us about that with, you know, plantain, tamarind, tell us a little bit about that dish. Well, that's one of my favorite dishes, you know, we brine the port belly and we rub it with our house-made jerk beefing. So that sauce takes about three hours because, you know, it has a lot of all size, a lot of the port belly and then we do, you know, I'm a big believer in contrast and complimenting, so the spiciness of the port belly is complimented, or contracted, if you will, using the sweet plantain puree underneath, and then we have some pickled peppers, then we also have our salmon, you know, of course, you as well, with some pickled peppers. Chef Nina, not a simple dish, but a great way to start. Then, you know, in Southern California, Chef Nina, I'm sure you would not be surprised to know that we don't see goat too often. Your curry goat was a big hit too with the sweet potato gnocchi and the roasted cashews. Really give us the food porn picture of that if you wouldn't mind, because again, just another memorable dish among many at your restaurant. Yes, so the curry goat has been on the menu since day one, and it is one of my comfort foods. I love curry, I love the way it makes me feel, it's a warm hug in a bowl, and, you know, we've raised this goat, it's a three-day process where we grind the goat overnight, then the roasted with the spices, so garam astala, fresh curry meat, star meat, green cardamom, have a marrow, we put some ginger in there as well, and brown chicken stock, but humerick, there's a lot of stuff going in that dish, and then after we've braised, we've cooked the meat off the bone, and then we toss that in with a real glove, which I like to give a little bit of brightness as well, the roasted cashews for a little bit of texture, and then we also do coffee cherry tomatoes, just a little bit of acidity as well. Chef Nina, that one was a wow, then related in the protein category, you know, you can't go wrong with your braised oxtail. Give us a little bit of the description of that if you would. So the oxtail is, I mean, I think oxtail has made a comeback on quite a few menus, I don't know if it's TikTok, Instagram, but oxtail is having a moment, so we braised that with casseri, which is a fermented cassava juice, and then we cooked that with ginger, a lot of spices, cinnamon, and then we also add orange peel, and we simmer that into a tender, and then we've been a dumpling, it's very chewy, I like the texture of the dumplings, that has been tossed in there, so it's like it's really a six-year rib dish, but it has so much going on inside. Oh, you know, absolutely, and you know, just bursting with flavor. Now, Nina, we've been concentrating on your flagship restaurant, Compare Lapon, but a few years ago, you know, people couldn't get reservations, you need to do a second restaurant, and you opened the more, a little bit more casual, by-water American bistro. You were nice enough for the America's competition to actually host a friends and family meal there for Team USA and their group, and they were definitely raving about that. Tell us a little bit about, you know, how you would characterize by-water American bistro. So, that restaurant came about pretty much as my husband, I was living in the neighborhood he wanted to have, I don't know, at least a good neighborhood restaurant, so that's why we opened up this restaurant, it's meant to be neighborhood steel, come through the bar, have some, you know, some beautiful oysters, and have a glass of wine, and maybe a bowl of noodles. But it was just really meant to be no froze, and to have a good time, and, you know, we lived down the street, so it was definitely something that spoke to us. And, Anita, you mentioned something that I think we want to explain to our audience. Your husband is also your business partner in the restaurants, correct? Yes, he is. No, just, you know, we like to identify the cast of characters, and it's great when a team can be business partners, as well as domestic partners, so definitely all good, as far as that's concerned. Meena, obviously, Emeril Lagasse is a huge figure in New Orleans, and he was a big part of the America's competition as you were. Was the first time you met Emeril when you were competing on Top Chef season 11? That is correct, yes. They come full circle, wouldn't you say? It did, and, you know, I think Emeril has been very instrumental in, you know, giving me guidance along the way, not only living in New Orleans, but also just how to be a great leader, and to always embrace and teach, and, you know, bringing people up, it's very important. Over the years, he has become a very, very good friend. Well, and, you know, what's really wonderful, Meena, is, and I had followed this, but I hadn't seen it up close until I was just in New Orleans, Emeril is passing the torch to his son, E.J., who is crazily enthusiastic about the restaurant business, about being a chef, and definitely has Emeril's sense of hospitality, and, you know, basically he was pretty well much responsible for reinventing Emeril's flagship restaurant, Emeril's, which was closed for a year for a massive renovation and, you know, expansion and everything else, and he's basically running that show. So it's nice to see how that family tradition can be passed on, and I think we all ought to keep an eye on E.J., Nina, don't you think? I definitely think so, and I think having, I mean, nothing is better to see the generation, the generational, you know, progression of the restaurant, and what better way to have your son take over, and, you know, if you really watch E.J.'s story, he grew up in the restaurant, and it's something that he was exposed at a very young age, and it just became, I think, very organic by him, and just a natural progression to be in the restaurant. No, no, definitely interesting to observe. Now, Nina, we want to let our listening audience know if they don't get to New Orleans before October 5th, and I hope they do, but folks in Southern California actually have a chance to see you here, because you are one of the high-profile chefs that's going to be doing a tasting station at, which I believe is the 14th, L.A. Love's Alex's Lemonade Benefit, which is on Saturday, October 5th at the Rice Quad at UCLA, which benefits research to eliminate childhood cancer, very pure organization in terms of what they do, the money they raise goes into research. Tell us a little bit about how you got involved in L.A. Love's Alex's Lemonade, because I know L.A. Foodie, Chef Nina are looking forward to tasting whatever you're going to be doing. So, I'm working at my first time doing Al's Lemonade in L.A., and I'm super excited about this. I mean, what better to do? I'm doing actually a cantaloupe and coconut soup. Even though it is October 5th, I still feel like those late summer dishes will be a nice, cool and refreshing. You know, it's completely vegan, lots of flavor going on, lots of ginger and lemon glass in the soup, marinade, cherry tomatoes. It's just a celebration of enjoying it without being bogged down with a lot of, like, having an extremely light and refreshing. Al's Lemonade does a lot for the research that comes, so I'm really excited to be a part of this, and to help raise money. Well, Nina, we are looking forward to seeing you here, and you can bet when I get back to New Orleans, which will be sooner than later, I will be back to see you, is we need to say goodbye. What is the website for Compare LaPann? Ladies and gentlemen, celebrity New Orleans chef Nina Compton, two very high-profile restaurants in New Orleans, and we're going to see her on Saturday, October 5th at Royce Quad at UCLA for L.A. Love's Alex's Lemonade. You are listening to the SoCal restaurant show. When you return, it is a new restaurant in Triangle Square in Costa Mesa. It is a chef-driven premium steakhouse on one end and an entertainment venue on another, called Westward Coast. You'll want to hear about this. We're proudly presented by Melissa's World Variety Produce and West Coast Prime Meats. Don't wander far. [MUSIC PLAYING]
