Nina Compton

During her fan-favorite turn on “Top Chef,” Nina Compton fell in love with the Season 11 host city of New Orleans. It was so much so that she moved there to open Compère Lapin, a restaurant that knits together the food of New Orleans — and all its influences — and Compton’s native St. Lucia. In 2018, three years after opening Compère, she won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: South. In 2025, Compton published her first cookbook, “Kwéyòl / Creole,” further enriching the link between Caribbean flavors and Creole tradition.