Nina Compton’s Dear New Orleans

Chef Nina Compton’s letter to the New Orleans restaurant community.

---

Time flies. My husband and I moved here eight years ago from the southern tip of Miami Beach, the polar opposite of New Orleans. We felt prepared to run a restaurant—the big nerves were reserved for how New Orleans would receive us. We knew we would like New Orleans. We just never realized how much.

illustration: BasHel Lubarsky

In 2013, I arrived to film Season 11 of “Top Chef.” Even under strictly supervised conditions, the city was still able to charm me. The brightly colored Creole cottages, the warmth of the citizens (and weather), and the hug of the city’s soul, all reminded me of my Caribbean upbringing. As fascinating as that cultural experience was, I was unaware of how much New Orleans would change my life. A chance meeting through a mutual friend led us to take a risk in America’s most culturally and culinarily recognizable city. But how would I fit in and be received as a chef and a neighbor?

It turned out that my anxiety was extremely unnecessary. Everyone in the hospitality industry was so welcoming. I’d meet one chef at dinner and they’d pass along my number to another. People I’d only read about were now chatting with me about their favorite farmers and fishermen. Walking down the street or at the grocery store, people would stop and say, “Thank you for moving here.” Everyone was so over-the-top nice that we wondered if y’all were filming a version of “The Truman Show” with Miss Leah hiding in the bushes. Strangers saying good morning, conversations with the checkout lady at the drugstore, or a neighboring table at lunch telling us where to eat dinner made me realize that the pride and graciousness of New Orleanians is real. There were no cameras in the bushes.

Within the city’s community, there is an even tighter knit and friendlier subset of chefs, restaurateurs, and other hospitality folks who continue to blow me away to this day. We want each other to succeed. We eat at each other’s restaurants and send visitors to them as well. We look forward to off-site events where we serve hundreds (or more) small bites outside of our restaurants, but still get to hang with our friends in the biz at the same time. Not many occupations can claim that much fun at work. 

We are there for each other in less desirable times as well. Sometimes the last two years feel like a blur. Sometimes it feels like it’s been that way forever. But we hung in there. We called each other to commiserate and to encourage. We bounced ideas off each other, many that we never dreamed of needing. We organized politically for ourselves and fought for legislation to help us through it all. We organized with care for others. We made food for frontline workers and hurricane victims and others in the community who had it worse than us. Our joy in feeding others gave us purpose when there was nothing else for us to do.

As we’ve (sorta) stabilized and the guests have returned, so too have individuals who want to work in our industry. They’ve returned to work, hopefully more aware of our industry’s healthier environments, along with all the advantages that encompass restaurant jobs. We realized and understood and implemented things in our own restaurants that we could change to bring about a more inviting work atmosphere.

At the end of the day, I am honored to live and thrive in the city of New Orleans and be surrounded  by some truly special people that fill my soul with joy and pride. We have all aligned to continue making this city’s light shine brighter each day.

Lots of love,

Nina Compton, Compère Lapin and Bywater American Bistro

---