At Compère Lapin in New Orleans, chef Nina Compton serves up a full, flavorful feast of dishes that bring together her Caribbean heritage, her classical training in French and Italian cuisine, and the finest, freshest ingredients from the Gulf. The menu mixes Louisiana soul food with Creole comfort food, eschewing unnecessary complexity. In fact, one of Compton’s talents lies in taking apparently simple staples—from curried goat to jerk chicken —and making them inspiringly imaginative and extraordinarily tasty.

The heart of Compère Lapin

Compère Lapin is in a bright, former industrial space on the ground floor of the Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery in New Orleans’ Warehouse District, remodeled by New York design firm Parts & Labor. The concrete and tile flooring, original floor-to-ceiling French doors, exposed brick walls, and wooden beams are complemented by wood tables, leather and tweed upholstery, and light fixtures made of walnut, brass, and blown-glass. The laid-back décor is just the first factor in the cozy, intimate atmosphere, of which the friendly but expert service is another fundamental feature. Then, of course, there’s the smiling presence of the husband-and-wife team of chef Compton and front-of-house manager Larry Miller, whose shared love of hospitality is immediately obvious on entering the restaurant and confirmed throughout the meal.

Chef Nina Compton was born and raised in the Caribbean nation of Saint Lucia, where her father served as Prime Minister. She went to secondary school in England then, after deciding to pursue her passion for cooking—a passion born while helping her mother and grandmother prepare big family meals at the weekend—studied at the Culinary Institute of America in New York City. After graduating, she was fortunate enough to work with a series of celebrated chefs in top restaurants from NYC to Miami, including Daniel Boulud at Daniel, Norman van Aitken at Norman’s, Philippe Ruiz at Palme d’Or at the Biltmore Hotel, and Scott Conant at Scarpetta. While filming (and finishing runner up and fan favorite) in Season 11 of the TV reality show Top Chef in New Orleans, she fell in love with the city, moving there shortly afterwards to open Compère Lapin.

Along with husband and business partner Miller, Compton later opened neighborhood bistro BABs (formerly Bywater American Bistro) and the fast-casual Nina’s Creole Cottage. Just to ensure she will never get bored; she also serves as Culinary Ambassador to Saint Lucia.

Since opening in 2015, Compère Lapin has garnered an array of accolades and appeared in numerous publications, including Top 10 Winner of Playboy's Best New Bars in America 2016, Eater America's 38 Essential Restaurants in 2017, Food & Wine’s 40 Most Important Restaurants of the Past 40 Years in 2018, and Esquire’s 40 Most Important Restaurants of the Decade in 2019.

Compère Lapin is also celebrated as a wine and cocktail bar and appeared in Wine Enthusiast’s list of America's 100 Best Wine Restaurants in 2018.

Compton’s recognitions as a chef include a Food & Wine Best New Chef Award in 2017 and a James Beard Award for Best Chef: South in 2018.

The Chef

Nina Compton was born and raised in the Caribbean island nation of Saint Lucia, where her father served three times as Prime Minister. After spending her high school years in the UK, then graduating from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NYC, she initially remained in the city to work alongside famed chef and restaurateur Daniel Boulud. She then moved to Miami, working first at Norman’s then at the Palme d’Or at the Biltmore Hotel. In 2008, she joined the team for reopening Scarpetta at the refurbished Fontainebleau Miami Beach, first as Sous Chef and later as Chef de Cuisine. Following a move to New Orleans, in 2015 Compton opened her first restaurant, Compère Lapin.

Compton is a firm believer in the importance of connecting with people through food and sharing the ingredients and recipes she loved growing up. She serves as a culinary ambassador for Saint Lucia. She also acted as mentor chef to US Grand Finalist Daniel Garwood at the S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Competition 2022-23 Grand Finale.

Awards she has won for her cooking include the James Beard Award for Best Chef, South in 2018—she was a finalist the previous year—and a Food & Wine Best New Chef Award in 2017.

Restaurants

Compton is chef-owner of Compère Lapin, which she opened in 2015 in the heart of New Orleans’ Arts/Warehouse District. The menu combines her love for French and Italian cuisine with the flavors of the Caribbean where she was born and raised. Indeed, the restaurant was named after the star of a series of traditional Caribbean and Creole folktales, a mischievous ‘brother rabbit’.

Compère Lapin started to receive positive press and accolades as soon as it opened, appearing in the Huffington Post’s Best New Restaurants Around the World in 2015, then topping Playboy’s Best New Bars in America and winning the NOLA.com/Times-Picayune Restaurant of the Year in 2016. These were followed in 2018 by appearances in Wine Enthusiast’s list of America's 100 Best Wine Restaurants, Food & Wine’s 40 Most Important Restaurants of the Past 40 Years, and Maxim’s 30 Best American Restaurants. The restaurant also featured in Esquire’ s 40 Most Important Restaurants of the Decade in 2019 and Eater’s list of America’s 38 Essential Restaurants.

In 2018, building on the success of Compère Lapin, Compton opened the Bywater American Bistro, later abbreviated to BABs, in partnership with husband Larry Miller and chef Levi Rains. In 2023, she opened the quick-service restaurant Nina’s Creole Cottage.

Recipes and dishes

As a child in St Lucia, Compton already knew she wanted to be a chef when her mother and grandmother would let her help them prepare big family meals at weekends. She is now known for coming up with full-flavored dishes that combine the flavors and feelings of those childhood meals with Compton’s more recent love for French and Italian cuisine, all using the best ingredients native to the Gulf and Louisiana.

Signature dishes include chilled cantaloupe and coconut soup; roast snapper and vegetables with arugula pesto; Caribbean seafood pepper pot; pickled shrimp with celery and buttermilk; and for dessert, roasted banana zeppole with rum caramel.

Compton became a well-known figure on the US culinary scene in 2013, when she took part in Season 11 of the popular reality TV show Top Chef. It was during the filming of the show in New Orleans that she fell in love with the Crescent City, and it was her success in the show—finishing runner-up and voted fan favorite—that gave her the opportunity to open her own restaurant in the city.

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