Nina Compton on The Top Chef Runner-Up Club, Caribbean Cuisine’s Ascent and Mardi Gras Madness!!

Award-winning chef and Top-Chef runner-up Nina Compton joins Adrienne and Joe to talk about the rise of Caribbean cuisine, Mardi Gras in a New Orleans kitchen, and life after Top Chef. In this episode, we discuss: Caribbean food finally getting its moment in fine dining Representing Caribbean cuisine on Top Chef The joys of being in the Top Chef “Second Place Club” Nina’s experience moving to New Orleans and opening Compère Lapin Turn and Burn: Mardi Gras traditions Walk In Confession: Nina’s first Mardi Gras mishap Follow Nina: @ninacompton Follow the show: @chefscutpod Follow Adrienne: @chefadriennecheatham Follow Joe: @insta.flamm

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:02Adrienne Cheatham?

  This week on The Chef's Cut, we have acclaimed chef, cookbook author, and Caribbean cuisine champion Nina Compton. We're talking with Nina about the Top Chef Second Place Club. We were both robbed.

• 0:17Adrienne Cheatham?

  Is Caribbean cuisine having a moment, or is this a movement?

• 0:21Speaker 01

  Fine dining Caribbean restaurants, that didn't really exist for a very long time.

• 0:26Adrienne Cheatham?

  And she's gonna share some Mardi Gras hot takes.

• 0:29Speaker 01

  These people are gonna be judging me really hard. They're like, you didn't say hey, Dells.

• 0:33Adrienne Cheatham?

  Be sure to leave a review wherever you're listening to the show. All right, let's bring Nina in.

• 0:41Adrienne Cheatham?

  Nina, we are so excited to talk to you today. Thank you so much for joining us.

• 0:45Speaker 01

  Yeah, happy to be here.

• 0:47Adrienne Cheatham?

  And we're happy to celebrate Mardi Gras with you. I wore my orange today.

• 0:51Speaker 01

  King cakes are flowing. Everybody's looking forward to Mardi Gras.

• 0:55Adrienne Cheatham?

  I love Mardi Gras. It's one of my favorite times of the year.

• 0:58Joe Flamm?

  Nina, one of my questions is, you know, I think what I didn't realize, like, when I'm thinking New Orleans, it's, you know, you've been there for a long time now. Your season of Top Chef was there. You've kind of, you know, I think for a lot of people, and in my mind, you know, when I think of New Orleans chefs, like, you know, I think of you. And, you know, I think I always just assumed that you've been there forever. That was your whole career. But you actually came up, you know, not in New Orleans, and then, you know, ended up moving there. And I was just curious, like, how did you get there? You know, what happened that you ended up, you know, moving on from where you were in Florida and all these, you know, you worked for incredible chefs. You worked for Norman Van Aken, which is a name I haven't seen, I don't think, in a while. And I was like, oh, my God, Norman Van Aken, like, what a legend.

• 1:41Adrienne Cheatham?

  Right. And Daniel Boulud, Scott Conan, you won Best Chef, you know, James Beard in 2018.

• 1:47Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's been, it's been a wild ride. And when I look at, you know, coming from Saint Lucia, a very, very small island. And when I started cooking, my mom's, you know, I told her, as I was working in these hotels back home, I'm like, I really want to go to culinary school. So luckily, I was able to go to the CIA in Hyde Park. And for me, when I came to culinary school, it was always, I'm gonna go to culinary school, and then I'm gonna move back to Saint Lucia. But then I'm like, no, I can't go back just yet, because I'm not ready to go back yet. Because for me, I always saw everything in my life as... What's the goal here? And for me, it was always about getting as much information, as much exposure from the best chefs.

• 2:30Speaker 01

  So back in two thousand, Daniel Balloud was, you know, he was the guy and he still is. And I wanted to work in his restaurants and really master things. And, you know, once that chapter was done, I read so much about Norman and he was doing amazing Floridian food that a lot of ingredients I grew up with, that he was using very, just very beautifully. And I was just like, wow, this, this is amazing. So for me, it was always go work for Chef Norman and then on to something next. And I was only gonna be in Miami for a couple of years and it was over a decade. And then, you know, when I thought the chapter was ending, I got to work with Scott Cullen when they were redoing the Fountain Blue.

• 3:13Speaker 01

  So it was an amazing grand opening and I wanted to be part of that. And, you know, I was with Scott for almost eight years. And that's last year and a half, I get a phone call direct to the kitchen. And they're like, hey, uh, can we talk to Chef Nina? I said, this is actually during Southeast Food and Wine, I remember this specifically. We were so busy and they're like, we wanna talk to you about da, da, da, da. And I'm like, listen, I'm really busy. Just send an email to [email protected]. And I hang up the phone. I'm expecting an email within twenty four hours. The weekend goes by, a week goes by, nothing. So I'm like, oh, this must have just been a prank call or whatever it was.

• 3:57Speaker 01

  They call back again, they're like, hey, we didn't get a response from you. And I said, I never got the email. So they've spelled Fountain Blue wrong. So I never got the email. And they're like, okay, spell it again. And they're like, we're gonna say it right now. So this email pops up, I click on it and the email heading is like Top Chef casting. And I'm like, talking to the producer and I'm like, this is ready for Top Chef, like the Top Chef show. And they're like, yeah, we wanna, we wanna hopefully have you in the, in the final cast. And as you guys know, it's a very lengthy process. And after doing, you know, Top Chef, I wanted to move to New Orleans.

• 4:42Speaker 01

  Because even though I was living in Florida, I'd never been to Louisiana. And I've just heard so many things about the city, the food, the culture, everything. And when we filmed Top Chef there, I told my husband, I'm like, we need to find a way for us to get back there. And as you guys also know, once you finish Top Chef, your world gets crazy. You get all these people want to open a restaurant, move here, do this. You're all over the place. And we had interviewed so many people for restaurants in Miami, restaurants in L.A. But nothing really spoke to me until we came to see the space. And I always believe in energy and just vibes and that kind of stuff.

• 5:26Speaker 01

  And I remember going into that space, which was under construction, and dirt floors, wires hanging down. And we walked in and we walked right out. And I told my husband, this is the spot.

• 5:39Adrienne Cheatham?

  Nice.

• 5:40Joe Flamm?

  I love that.

• 5:42Adrienne Cheatham?

  And it's such a beautiful location, too. Oh, my God, it's such a great place. I love that whole area, just everything about it. The place feels great, the exposed brick, the wrought iron, the windows facing the street. I mean, it's just such a great space.

• 5:57Joe Flamm?

  And like, New Orleans makes so much sense. And it's, you know, again, like one of those hindsight things where it's like, oh, yeah, like, Nina and New Orleans, like, it's like a perfect match made to have it. But like, the wildness, like, me and Adrian were talking about this yesterday of like, I'm like, like, if Adrian, just like, after our season, would have been like, I'm opening a restaurant in Denver, I love Colorado. I would have been like, you're fucking crazy. Like, this is an insane thing to do. But it's like, you did it like seamlessly. And everybody was like, this totally makes sense and it's brilliant. And, you know, you've obviously done extremely well there, but you seem extraordinarily happy there. But it's like, it's kind of a wild thing to do.

• 6:37Speaker 01

  It is, but, you know, I go with my gut. If something feels off, I'm not going to do it. But if something feels right. And I think I'm such a determined person that when I put my mind to something, I make it happen.

• 6:49Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah.

• 6:50Speaker 01

  I am so blessed to live in this city. And it was actually very intimidating because when we moved all our stuff and we opened the restaurants. You know, we were just like, nobody's gonna know us. We're just gonna open this restaurant very quietly. Not the case, complete opposite. Apparently, there was like, uh, something in the, in the local paper saying, "Top Chef, contestant Nina Compton moves to New Orleans to open restaurant." And people were stopping my husband and I in the grocery store, saying, "Thank you for moving here." We're like, "We haven't opened. We haven't done anything yet." And we would go to restaurants and chefs would come out and they were just like, "Welcome to the city. Here's my number. If you need anything, any purveyors.

• 7:35Speaker 01

  Here's the guy you can call for crawfish. Here's the guy you can call for produce. Here's a fisherman guy." And my husband is like, "Wow, this is so crazy. People here are so nice." And it's what I love about the chef community here. It's not a competition. Everybody wants to see everybody thrive. And that's what we felt when we opened the restaurant. You know, there are a lot of culinary giants here that have been around for a very long time. But everybody was so welcoming and so supportive that it just, I felt like we couldn't fail because we're gonna let, you know, the whole community down. And that's just the great thing about the city because I've seen the culinary world really explode with so many chefs that are coming here and doing different things that it just makes the culinary landscape so much richer when you have more chefs and everybody's thriving.

• 8:20Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah, New Orleans is like a different city. When it comes to the food culture, people care more about food and restaurants and people in the food world than sometimes other celebrities. So, my husband and I got married in New Orleans because that's where he's from. And the day after our wedding, we went to, was it Auction House, the food hall that used to be across from Pesh?

• 8:44Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 8:45Adrienne Cheatham?

  And we were there. We're sitting at the bar, having oysters and wine and just hanging out after all the craziness of a New Orleans wedding. And the two of us are sitting there and I'm like, "Oh, holy shit. That's Victor Cruz and Karucci on a date, like, right over there." And no less than five people walked past them and were like, "Chef, I saw you on Top Chef." Walked right past Victor Cruz. And at the time, like, he was one of the hottest athletes. And I was like, "I love New Orleans. This is amazing."

• 9:17Adrienne Cheatham?

  We've hung out in New Orleans and gotten to know each other. And one of the first things that we talked about, I don't know if you agree with my perspective, but we have something in common that I find hilarious is that we were both robbed.

• 9:34Adrienne Cheatham?

  On our finales of Top Chef.

• 9:38Speaker 01

  People still stop me. I will just be walking and people will just stop you and be like, you are robbed. And they just keep walking. They'll come into a restaurant and they'll get up and they're like, you are robbed. Nina, no, my guys, it's okay. I'm good. I'm, I'm quite content. I have, you know, restaurants. I'm good. I'm okay. I've moved on. I think I'm doing okay.

• 9:59Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah. I mean, I think it's all about the runner up. Like who cares about the winners, right?

• 10:04Joe Flamm?

  You guys, you guys want me to go for this part of the conversation? Should I just come back?

• 10:09Adrienne Cheatham?

  I like it that you're here, actually.

• 10:12Speaker 01

  That show is, it's crazy how people are so invested, you know, emotionally into the show. And you'll forever be a Top Chef person in their mind. And I think that's such something that's really beautiful about the show. And, you know, as more seasons come along, I just see the Top Chef contestants family get bigger and bigger. And there's people I haven't met that once you're in that group of Top Chef family, you're, you're in it for life. It's almost like a, you know, like a mob family, you know, where we're just, we're unspoken and we're all on the same page and we all know what we have to do.

• 10:48Adrienne Cheatham?

  I love it. A mob family. Yeah. And I actually, I got, I got offers. Somebody offered to kneecap Joe after our, after our finale aired

• 10:57Adrienne Cheatham?

  on the streets of Chicago. Somebody called me up and was like, I think your boy is at my office. Should I take him out today?

• 11:04Joe Flamm?

  It's the Chicago way. I respect it. You know what I mean? Like if, if you don't have anybody coming for you, you're not doing enough.

• 11:10Adrienne Cheatham?

  And I know we've had such a good time, like hanging out, joking about that. Larry joked about that when we did, I did a cookbook dinner at, at one of your restaurants. And Larry, in the pre-shift speech was like, what do we do in this house? We come in second.

• 11:28Joe Flamm?

  I mean, it's such a, it's such a unique experience to get like I always, you know, I think like now, you know, when I meet people who've gone on the show and I'm like, man, just like enjoy the ride. Like it's crazy. Like this is, this was never where any of us were supposed to be. This isn't why we started cooking. This isn't why we began this journey was to like, see if we could win a Bravo TV show. It's a weird fantasy land. So it's like, you gotta just like, you know, buckle in and be like, oh, let's see where this weirdness takes me. I mean, like, it took you to New Orleans. Seeing a city through the lens of filming Top Chef is not like, oh yeah, I went on this wonderful guided tour for a couple of months to, you know, Kuala Lumpur, uh, you know, like, it's like a wild way to see anything.

• 12:13Joe Flamm?

  It's like, yeah, I saw this city while people were like, kinda trying to like fuck with me every moment of every day. And it was like amazing and incredible and terrible.

• 12:23Speaker 01

  It's a wild thing because I have so many, we had a guy that did two seasons ago that he lives in New Orleans. And I ran into him at the supermarket. He's like, hey, I'm, I'm, I'm gonna go do that thing. And I'm like, what do you mean that thing? And he goes, he's like, I'm gonna be gone for six weeks. And I'm like, say no more. So he said, can we get coffee? So you can give you some tips. I said, listen, man, the only tips I can tell you is memorize a couple of pastry recipes. And that's it. That's all you need to know because you're not gonna have a cookbook. You're not gonna have a cell phone and it's the hardest thing. You can't train for it. You could try, you could, because even when I found out we were doing New Orleans, my mom is sending me a list of things. She's like, maybe you're gonna cook nutria.

• 13:09Speaker 01

  And maybe you're gonna be doing N A challenge. And I said, mom, it's not that pedestrian. They might have one or two of those things, but you can train for it. No matter how hard you try and figure out what the challenge is gonna be, you're in a different kitchen each time. You don't know what's in the fridge. I don't know if I could go back a second time because I don't wanna be third place. Okay.

• 13:34Adrienne Cheatham?

  Right, that's funny. We were sitting, we were sitting next to each other that one time. You got a phone call to see if you would come back and do an All-Star season. And within the same five minutes, they called me too. And I was like, would you go back? And you were like, I don't know. I don't know. I was like, man, I kind of want to go back. But you were like, ugh.

• 13:55Speaker 01

  Well, I could go back. And they actually got me very close during 2020 because they're like, we're gonna be doing this All-Stars in London and da, da, da.

• 14:03Joe Flamm?

  Oh, yeah.

• 14:04Speaker 01

  And I'm like, I'm like, yeah, the restaurants were, because it was COVID, you know, I'm like, maybe, maybe I'll go back. And then I'm just like, nah, I just, if I, if I don't win it, then I, no, I'm just, I'm, I'm gonna stop where I am. I'm just gonna stop here. I'm good. I'm gonna keep, keep it where I am.

• 14:23Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah. And it's so cool, like, you know, to think about you doing Top Chef and finding a home in New Orleans. Like, some of the other cities, even though you spent a long time in Miami and New York, New Orleans kind of became home. And now you are such a huge part of the food scene and the culture there. Like, you can't think about New Orleans without thinking about Nina Compton, you know, part of the new wave of modern cuisine in New Orleans. And I think one of the things that also Joe and I have talked about that we find really interesting is that before Top Chef, you had cooked mostly French and Italian cuisine. And on Top Chef, you were doing this beautiful, modern Caribbean cuisine.

• 15:07Adrienne Cheatham?

  And that's the food that you do at Comper Le Pen and you had, you know, at Babs. Um, you know, everything is, what we know you as, didn't start until you were doing that food. And, you know, what, what made you lean into that in Top Chef and kind of look back more at like St. Lucian and Caribbean cuisine and have the, the confidence, like, cook that?

• 15:35Speaker 01

  That, that's a, that's a very thoughtful thing, you know, when I decided to do the show. I called my mom up because Scott told me, I called Scott, as soon as I got the, the email, I'm like, what should I do? He's like, go for it. He's like, you might win. He's like, just, it's gonna be an experience. You should definitely do it. So I'm like, all right, good. Call my mom, I said, hey, mom, I'm gonna be on this, this show, Top Chef. And she's like, don't do it. I'm like, what do you mean, don't do it? She's like, it's gonna be too stressful for me. And I said, well, just don't watch the show.

• 16:11Speaker 01

  And she's like, just don't do it, please, it's gonna stress me out. And I'm like, let me think about it, mom. And then I called her back and I'm like, I'm gonna do it because one, I could win. And two, I could put Caribbean food on the map. And when I started the first challenge, that was actually the first time in my entire career, after working for all these chefs, working under them, executing their food, their vision, their recipes. I had a blank canvas with Top Chef, I could cook any cuisine I wanted to. And that was the first time where I'm just like, wow, there's literally no boundaries here.

• 16:51Speaker 01

  I can cook French, Italian, Caribbean, Asian, whatever it is, and nobody would judge, right? Because it's just, you're inspired by just a moment of the challenge. And I think for me, I really found my culinary voice on that show. And I never thought that I was able to pull it out. Because I'd been working for so many chefs. I never really thought that I was ready to open my own restaurant at that time. And I think that doing that show gave me the confidence that, hey, my food is good, people are responding to it really well, and I think that I should just go for it. So I kind of kept that going and I didn't realize how many people watched that show until pretty much the finale.

• 17:36Speaker 01

  And my mom called me, of course, we already, it's already pre-recorded, so we already know who the winner is. And I called my mom the night of the finale and I said, hey, just so you know, I didn't, I didn't win. She's like, well, you know, everybody back home, they basically had

• 17:55Speaker 01

  The capital city castries basically blocked off and they had a big viewing party, TVs, couches, whole thing. People had shirts with my, my face on it, like our top chef. And people were going crazy and she's like, show me the video of the setup for this thing. And I'm just, I'm just dying because I'm like, these people are going to be so pissed when they know that I didn't win. So the next morning I wake up to a flood of Facebook messages. You were robbed. Tom Kalikio can never come to San Lucia. He's banned. My mom told me that they had a picture of him in the airport with a big X that people were just like, Tom cannot

• 18:39Speaker 01

  come to this country. Be on the lookout if he comes here. They're like Padma and Gail can come because they supported Chef Nina. And it was crazy. And people still, when I go home, they all stop me and they'll hug me. And they're like, thank you for representing the Caribbean. Because it wasn't just San Lucia that was behind me. It was the entire Caribbean. So that was a huge shift for us. You know, all these small islands coming together. It wasn't just about, oh, she's from San Lucia. It's like, no, she's representing the Caribbean. So I think that was just, I think the most beautiful moment I could ask for was doing that on the show.

• 19:18Adrienne Cheatham?

  You've really kicked off a movement. I mean, you look at it now, right? Caribbean cuisine is flourishing. You know, we talked about this in.

• 19:29Joe Flamm?

  We've talked about this with Jamila. We've, we've talked about, we've talked about Caribbean cuisine so much on the pot. We felt like, like you kicked this off almost quietly. Like it was this quiet spark from New Orleans that feels like it's, it's just kicked off a powder keg of it now in the best way.

• 19:48Speaker 01

  Yeah, Caribbean food is definitely having a moment. And I, I think the reason for that is because for, for the longest time, everybody has gone to the Trinidadian roti shop, they've been to the Jamaican jerk place, doubles roti, jerk chicken, rice and peas, uh, beef pies. So that's gonna be what people have been exposed to. And I feel like not just Caribbean food, but I think all cuisines right now, the guests are more receptive. The guests are more curious, they're more traveled, they've dined out more than, you know, twenty years ago. So people are, they're hungry for this kind of food, they're curious, they wanna try something.

• 20:28Speaker 01

  And I, I think Caribbean food definitely because people have had the usual suspects, you know, comfort as jerk chicken, that kind of, you know, regular stuff. But you have all of these Caribbean chefs cooking dishes that are very uniquely Caribbean. And if you don't know, you don't know. Like, so you look Cabo in New York where Paul Carmichael has sauce. Not many people have sauce on their menus, but he's doing that. So I think a lot of chefs, because the, the diner is curious and they're, they're engaging this kind of cuisine, it allows a chef to become more creative and put those dishes that a lot of people are not exposed to, and people are excited about it.

• 21:10Adrienne Cheatham?

  Now, you said one thing that I'm curious about. Do you think Caribbean food is having a moment? Or do you think that this exposure is gonna make sure that it stays in the conversation going forward?

• 21:22Speaker 01

  I, I think it's having a moment because people are paying attention to it more. You see a lot more chefs opening Caribbean restaurants, which when you think about fine dining Caribbean restaurants, that didn't really exist for a very long time. But now you see more, more of these, these restaurants here, and I think they're here to stay. So I think we definitely have the staying power, and I think it's because the diner is more receptive. And also people are now, they've been exposed to Caribbean food for a very long time. But when you see it at this level, they're They're supporting it. They're behind it.

• 21:57Joe Flamm?

  I think it always takes somebody to show kind of like proof of concept because I feel like as chefs, a lot of times, you know, there's that balance of like, well, I could do this food that I would really want to do, but will make me accomplish the things I want to accomplish, you know, whether that's winning awards or, you know, ruddied a successful restaurant or building out, you know, eat a brand or whatever. And you took it and you did literally all of those things. You know what I mean? Like you won a James Beard Award, Best New Chef, all these things. You know, you've had this longstanding restaurant in New Orleans, built this beautiful thing. I think that, you know, blazed so much trail for other people to be able to look at it and be like, hey, I can do this the way I've always wanted to do it and still accomplish everything I want to do.

• 22:40Joe Flamm?

  I don't have to fit into the framework that I've always looked at as, you know what I mean? Like if you want to be a serious, you know, by nighting chef, whatever, like you have to do it this way. And I think like that, that's the coolest thing. It's so easy to say 10 years later and be like, oh yeah, like, you know, she did something that it appears, I feel like very obvious now, but it's like, that was wild.

• 23:03Adrienne Cheatham?

  Right, right. Like think about at the time, Nina, you opened Compare Le Pen, like nobody else was doing that. So for you to be able to say, I'm gonna do this and then let the accolades come. It's not like it was a sure thing that you're going to get attention, that, you know, the media is going to cover it or understand the food. Like you were the first, you know, quote unquote, serious chef. I'm like, oh, I love curry goat, but I would have never thought I would get curry goat at like a nice restaurant. It's like my local places. And you had it with like the beautiful sweet potato gnocchi and like this gorgeous curry sauce. Like to be able to do that and not care about,

• 23:45Adrienne Cheatham?

  does this fit into what I know the mold of something that will win and be perceived well is? Like Joe's right, like, you know, I don't think you've been given enough credit. And in the years since, we see like, you know, Gregory Gourde, we see, you know, Kwame, we see Paul Carmichael, you know, doing kabawa and Pan Caribbean cuisine there. But you were really like the OG of doing this.

• 24:11Speaker 01

  Well, you guys are making me blush. But again, I I think a lot of it had to do with doing Top Chef and seeing how people, you know, responded to the food, especially people like Padma and Tom and and Gail who are seasoned, they have great palate. So when you get that kind of affirmation at that level, it gives you a little bit of confidence, you know, but I also think that opening a restaurant in New Orleans definitely did help because people are so serious about food here. And seeing their response again can again just made me feel like, okay, this is, I think, I think I'm good here. I'm not gonna close in six months. And I think because

• 24:56Speaker 01

  New Orleans is such a foodie city where people come down for eating tours or whatever it is, just for weekend, just to eat, drink, have a good time. So when you have other people coming to the city just for a weekend and enjoying that food. Again, it it gives us chef confidence when you're able to put curry goat in the menu. And people love it. And it was a very scary thing because I told my my husband, I'm like, I'm gonna put curry goat in the menu. And he laughed, he says, it's not gonna sell, but if it makes you happy, put it on for a month and then we'll take it off because it's not gonna sell. And we sell so much goat that it it's just a thing. People come for that goat. And again, I think it's because

• 25:41Speaker 01

  people gave me the confidence when they try the dish. They're like, this is really good. I'm like, okay, well, let's just keep it going.

• 25:47Joe Flamm?

  And is there any greater motivation on earth than proving your husband or wife wrong? Like, really, you know what I mean of like, you know, I mean, where you're like, we are gonna sell the most curry goat that's ever been sold. I'm gonna make goats extinct. We're gonna sell so much curry goat.

• 26:03Speaker 01

  Well, we actually put a goat farmer out of business right before the pandemic because he he comes to me. He was a goat farmer in Mississippi. Comes to me, Charlie was his name. And he looks so sad. And I'm like, Charlie, what's wrong? Are you okay? He's like, I only have five goats for this week and then that's it. I keep up. And then he looked like a broken man because initially it was just like, send me one goat for this week. And I was like, two. And then it was just like a lot of goat. We are going through. Each week goat day is like such a lengthy process. It's a three day process of grinding the goat overnight, braising it, taking the meat off, portioning it.

• 26:47Speaker 01

  So when it becomes goat day, it's it's an intense day that every oven in our kitchen is full of goat, full for hours. And it's it's such a process that we started off with one goat and then it became doing goat on a Monday, 200 pounds, and then a Thursday, 200 pounds. So it was a lot. We go through a lot of goats.

• 27:10Adrienne Cheatham?

  This this has given me some flashbacks to stories Joe has has told me about like breaking down pigs at work and braising and like all this stuff and taking up all the ovens of the kitchen to get these done.

• 27:21Joe Flamm?

  And we we broke we broke down a couple of goats that grow the goat in Chicago too. We we had a we we we went through a couple, you know, you know, six of those a week and it was like, you know, I think yeah, I think between you and Steph, you both have decreased the goat population in the United States by like 75% in the past decade.

• 27:42Adrienne Cheatham?

  One thing that I love, you know, especially like you look at Caribbean cuisine, it is so multicultural. It reminds me, and I feel like New Orleans is such a good fit of that because or a good fit for that because you have, you know, Creole culture is French, Spanish, African, indigenous, and then you have Caribbean culture, which is African, you know, some parts Dutch, some parts English, Spanish, as well as, you know, African being the through line in both of them that kind of informs that cuisine and also Indian. You know, in in Caribbean cuisine, you have a lot of Indian influence as well. So it makes these really beautiful flavor profiles that even if you're not familiar

• 28:26Adrienne Cheatham?

  with it overtly, you know some of it and you can eat a dish and you're like, oh, this reminds me of this that I had somewhere. And so it pulls up memories, I think, for so many people, even if it is something you're not familiar with.

• 28:40Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think, you know, Paul Carmichael, we had a very lengthy chat and we were saying that we're gonna treat the Caribbean as its own continent, not just individual islands. And I never thought about it that way because, you know, a lot of these islands are very, very small, right? But again, we have so many similarities and there's a lot of crossover. And so when you look at somewhere like Barbados, it is predominantly British, then you have Selena, that is French, British, African, Indian, Native Indian. Every island is different, but also very similar. And a lot of the similarities, again, is Africa. So when you look at Colombian cuisine, which is like in Cartagena, that is heavily African.

• 29:25Speaker 01

  Somewhere like Brazil, when I went to Brazil, I was just like, oh, my gosh, I, I, I know all these dishes. They look, there, there's always that, that drew line. And it's Africa, the same thing in New Orleans, that is also African influence. That's, that's the deep connection.

• 29:39Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah, and I always tell people, like, you know, the same thing with southern food. People know, like you, you said, the usual suspects. I always call it the greatest hits. Like, people know collard greens, fried chicken, cornbread, shrimp and grits, but there is so much regional nuance that I think that's a really interesting perspective to say, let's look at the Caribbean like its own continent. You can take those same principles and apply that to southern cuisine, or, you know, like they do to Italian and French cuisine. You can look at it and say, let's bring up those, like, B-sides, the lesser-known dishes, the, the regional sauces, the condiments, the things that this region is known for, but nobody knows about it outside of that.

• 30:24Adrienne Cheatham?

  And it's really cool to see Caribbean cuisine expanding like that. And yeah, Jo and I were talking about this and we're just like, wow, all these people we've talked about, it's like, we can trace it all back to, like, Top Chef when you were on.

• 30:41Adrienne Cheatham?

  And we were just like, holy shit. Like, look at that.

• 30:44Joe Flamm?

  I mean, because it's legitimately like, I think if you asked in that era, like when you opened, it's like, somebody had to do that and you did that. I was like, she just went on a show, saw this place and was like, hell yeah, I'm gonna come here. I'm gonna open a restaurant that nobody's ever opened. This shit's all gonna work out.

• 31:00Adrienne Cheatham?

  In a city I've never lived in.

• 31:02Joe Flamm?

  I was like, yes, that is my shit. That is like the absolute beautiful lunacy, full send-ness of our industry that I think like, you know, you couldn't explain to someone. Like, if you wrote that down on paper 10 years before it happened and you handed it to someone, you said, this is gonna happen in 10 years.

• 31:22Adrienne Cheatham?

  You're crazy.

• 31:23Joe Flamm?

  And they would've been like, no.

• 31:26Speaker 01

  For me, it's like, when I make up my mind, it's just like, I just go, you know? And I guess for me, it's always of just always pushing and there's failure is no option. And I think that that is, it's also a chef thing. You know, I think that you have to be determined to do anything. It's, you know, you have to make it. And I think that is just that the mentality of a chef is no matter how, how big the prep list is, no matter how many covers you have, you gotta make it happen. And that's just a chef mentality.

• 31:56Joe Flamm?

  That's it. And I, I had that conversation, you know, with one of my chefs when we were doing an opening. I said, the mentality is just, there is no other option. You have to make it. You have to be back against the wall. You have to live in a crazy belief and faith that like, the only way out is through. There's no backsliding. We're just going.

• 32:18Adrienne Cheatham?

  Nina, what is, you know, talking about Caribbean cuisine and how people are starting to get to know it, there still are some people who aren't as familiar with some of the nuance of it. What is a dish or an ingredient that you think more people should know about?

• 32:35Speaker 01

  I wouldn't necessarily tell some people they shouldn't know about this, but I think... I think coconut milk is the neck of the gods. I use it in everything. And I think more people should use coconut milk in their cooking instead of maybe heavy cream. And I think that was something that for me, especially cooking with Scott, it was like heavy cream was just not really used that much. And you know, whenever we make a parade, we wouldn't emulsify butter or cream. It would be olive oil. And I'm like, oh, that's, that's an interesting way of, of making it still very luscious and beautiful. So that kind of stuck with me. But when I opened the restaurant, it was just coconut milk and everything

• 33:17Speaker 01

  because it just is such a beautiful addition. Even things like just using coconut oil, it's super fragrant, it's super nutty. So I think that that definitely more coconut everything is, is a must.

• 33:31Adrienne Cheatham?

  Now, I know you said that you can't really prepare for Top Chef in that way. But what advice do you wish you had gotten before going to do the show? And this is because we've got a new season that's coming up soon. So like, what advice do you wish you had gotten before going?

• 33:49Speaker 01

  I don't think you can give anybody advice. I think my advice to anybody going on this show is just to have fun with it. I remember the first episode, everybody in the house like, just don't get voted off on the first episode. You just got to make it through restaurant wars, just get through that. And I just, you know, I was in this house with fifteen, sixteen other people. And everybody's just talking about how many, you know, Michelin stars they have or how many restaurants they own. And I'm just sitting there as, you know, a CDC, just quiet and overwhelmed at the same time. And you know, it's like everybody gets in their own head. And I just saw so many people as each episode went.

• 34:32Speaker 01

  They're stressed out, they're not having fun. And for me, as I was competing on the show, I was like looking around and like saying, wow, I'm cooking for David Kinch today, or I'm in Leah Chase's kitchen cooking a gumbo challenge. So for me, it was really about stepping back a little bit and enjoying the moment, you know, of that challenge and that day because I had so much fun doing that show that if we had wrapped tomorrow and he said, let's do it again, it would not be the same. It'd be something different, but it was really about enjoying that, that simple moment of the challenge and looking at

• 35:12Speaker 01

  who I'm cooking for, which kitchen I'm in. And I think that's just the biggest thing because a lot of people, they're so focused on the end goal of winning the money that they look up and they're like, I didn't even enjoy this because it's, you can't recreate that. There's no script. It's just, everything is just on the moment.

• 35:33Joe Flamm?

  You know, I think of like our finale and like, you know, I remember I, it was at one point, I don't remember if it was the day before age, but it was like day of, and it was like you and I were like, we're literally standing on top of a mountain in Aspen. And we were just like talking about, it's like, can you believe we're fucking here? Like, you know what I mean? Like, can we believe we're doing this right now? It was like winners are draws. Like, it's crazy that we're both standing right here.

• 35:54Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 35:55Joe Flamm?

  Like, you know what I mean? That it's like, we both, we grew up 10 minutes, we grew up 10 minutes away from each other, me and Adrian.

• 36:00Speaker 01

  Really?

• 36:00Adrienne Cheatham?

  And never knew each other until

• 36:02Joe Flamm?

  Never knew each other. And I was like, and we, and we met in Colorado. You know what I mean? And went on this journey together. You know, that's, I think it's the best advice that you have to be, it has to be as much about the adventure as anything else. It has to be about those people next to you and the people you get to cook for. And like, you know, the access to kitchens you get to go to, places you get to cook is just crazy. It's so cool. And if you're only focused on like, oh, I have to win or I have not to lose. It's like you're, you're, you're missing so much.

• 36:34Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think there, there's so much going on. And I think the beauty of that show is that they're so thoughtful in the way that they structure challenges and, and they really pay an ode to where they're, whichever city they're, they're shooting in. And it's, it's really thoughtful, the way that they think about where they're cooking, who the guest judges are. It's, it's just very well done. And if you're just focused on the finale, you're going to miss so many things.

• 37:00Adrienne Cheatham?

  But you don't think you would do it again?

• 37:04Speaker 01

  I, listen, they call me and I'm like, I will only guess judge.

• 37:09Adrienne Cheatham?

  That's right. Did you judge this past season? I know you judged the season that Lana was on. Did you judge the one they just, that's airing now or about to air?

• 37:17Speaker 01

  No, I didn't. But you know, that it's, what I guess judged that that was Restaurant Wars. And it was, that's a tough challenge. You know, when you think back to, you have 24 hours to create a restaurant. And somebody has to be in front of the house. Think about it. You're cooking a service, not like for 25 people. You're cooking for a lot of people. People you've never cooked for in a restaurant setting. You're running a service. Like, I don't know if you're the best saute cook, but hey, you're working saute today. And this is my nuts on the line. It's, it's pretty incredible.

• 37:56Speaker 01

  And, you know, when I judged it, it was, the two restaurants were like night and day, but it, that's a hard challenge. Three or four courses, plus run front of the house, have wine pairings, train your busters and your servers and everybody. It's, it's crazy. It's crazy.

• 38:13Joe Flamm?

  I, that's such a hard challenge, but I will say that was like the one, you know, when I got on, I was like, I gotta make it to Restaurant Wars. That was the one I wanted to do. Like, that was my goal. I was like, I have to make the Restaurant Wars. And I'll, and I would tell you, Aje, I still have the, uh, our guest book from Conifer. Yeah, it's sitting, it's sitting on my bookshelf behind me. I still have it. Uh, somebody from the production team, uh, snuck it out to me. Cause I had, you know, when I got kicked off the next day. But like, uh, but I still, I still have it. And it was like, one of those like, I mean, it, it, it's so special, but it is hard. Luckily, I had the, I had the best fish cook in Colorado on my, uh, I'm working on my life.

• 38:58Joe Flamm?

  I wasn't, I wasn't sweating it. It's cool as a cucumber, baby.

• 39:02Adrienne Cheatham?

  The best cooked fish with the worst overall dish, though. Um, that was a, it was funny because-

• 39:08Joe Flamm?

  Hey, we still got that Duh?

• 39:09Adrienne Cheatham?

  We did. We got the W on that. It was so funny because going in, I had never seen Top Chef. So people are like, oh my God, it's Restaurant Wars. And I was like, what's that? Like, oh, we're two teams against each other. Okay, cool. Like, I can cook. I was like, I know nothing about front of house. Like, I can manage, but like, if somebody's better suited to this, Joe was like, oh, I got this. I'm like, cool, you do it. I'm like, I will hold down a line.

• 39:35Joe Flamm?

  Screwed it and booted, baby.

• 39:39Adrienne Cheatham?

  I will go to war. I will run through whatever wall needs to get run through. Dishes will come out fast and accurate, but front of house, that is a skill set I do not possess. Luckily, we had a charming guy on our team to handle that.

• 39:54Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's always the best to have is somebody that can smooth over front of the house because it's an important part of the restaurant.

• 40:02Joe Flamm?

  I think the advantage I had is that I've gotten in a lot of trouble in my life and had to talk my way out of it. So it really helps for building a strong front of the house presence of like, of like, well, I've been in situations way worse than this. I got this, guys. Don't worry.

• 40:18Adrienne Cheatham?

  Nina, I want to get into a little bit of Mardi Gras turn and burn.

• 40:24Speaker 01

  Oh, boy.

• 40:25Adrienne Cheatham?

  Kind of Mardi Gras, kind of New Orleans, but I'm gonna throw some questions at you. Some are gonna be this or that. Some will be kind of quick, top of head answers. So are you ready?

• 40:37Speaker 01

  Yes, go.

• 40:38Adrienne Cheatham?

  Okay.

• 40:40Adrienne Cheatham?

  So it's Mardi Gras. King cake. What is your favorite king cake in New Orleans?

• 40:45Speaker 01

  Okay, this is gonna cause a huge debate because people are like, is it Heydell's? Is it Randazzo's? Is it this person? I actually really enjoy a galette de Roy.

• 40:59Adrienne Cheatham?

  Oh, oh, you're going, way to French it up.

• 41:03Speaker 01

  I'm going classic, the galette from either Lanyard Bakery or Levy Bakery.

• 41:09Adrienne Cheatham?

  Both great.

• 41:11Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's, I think having a beautiful galette, that's.

• 41:15Adrienne Cheatham?

  Okay, that's controversial. That is gonna be very controversial.

• 41:19Speaker 01

  People are gonna be judging me really hard. They're like, you didn't say Heydell's, you didn't, you didn't say Dongfeng. Guys, sugary confections are not my thing, but a galette is the way I go.

• 41:30Adrienne Cheatham?

  Okay, all right, you know, no judgment. You're in a safe space.

• 41:35Adrienne Cheatham?

  Jambalaya or gumbo?

• 41:37Speaker 01

  Gumbo.

• 41:38Adrienne Cheatham?

  Hmm. Yep. Now, I know I've heard some people put potato salad in their gumbo in New Orleans. Have you tried that?

• 41:47Speaker 01

  It is. That is the move.

• 41:49Joe Flamm?

  I've never heard of that, but it sounds awesome.

• 41:52Adrienne Cheatham?

  I've heard of it. I've seen it, but I've never tried it.

• 41:54Joe Flamm?

  I've never seen it. I want to try that.

• 41:56Speaker 01

  You guys gotta try it. It's a little amount of potato salad and it's, it's the one.

• 42:01Adrienne Cheatham?

  I, I trust you. So if anybody could convince me, it's going to be Nina Compton. All right. Now, another controversial one. Red beans and rice or rice and peas?

• 42:12Speaker 01

  Oof, that's, I can't answer that.

• 42:19Speaker 01

  Either way, can I say both?

• 42:21Adrienne Cheatham?

  You can say both.

• 42:22Joe Flamm?

  You can say whatever you want. Adrienne's, Adrienne's not actually in charge. You don't got to let her bully you.

• 42:30Adrienne Cheatham?

  You know, I just like to start some shit sometimes. Um, okay.

• 42:33Joe Flamm?

  You know what my mother would call a shit stir?

• 42:37Speaker 01

  She's definitely one of those.

• 42:38Adrienne Cheatham?

  Have you met me? Okay. So Mardi Gras, do you actually go to the parades or do you wait for the after parties?

• 42:47Speaker 01

  So I go to the parades. We actually have quite a few that go past the restaurant. So we have muses that, you know, it's, it happens during service. So the diner pretty much empties out. And everybody's trying to catch a shoe. So that's one of like my favorite parades because it goes right by the restaurant. So I don't have to worry about parking or, you know, being out in the cold. I can just pop out when the floats start to come by.

• 43:12Adrienne Cheatham?

  Nice. And now with Mardi Gras beads, do you collect them forever or do you throw them away?

• 43:19Speaker 01

  That, so when we first moved here, we had bags. Bags, I mean like huge bags of beads. And when we got, when we bought our house, told my husband, I said, you know, we just got to start collecting these beads. Some of those, uh, floats have like their custom beads. So that's the ones we save. The other ones we just, we give away because some people recycle them. So we just donate them at the end of the season.

• 43:43Adrienne Cheatham?

  Nice. Okay. And last one. This one might be controversial too. New Orleans Mardi Gras or Caribbean Carnival?

• 43:53Speaker 01

  Caribbean Carnival for sure.

• 43:55Adrienne Cheatham?

  Oh.

• 43:56Speaker 01

  It, it, yeah, people gonna, people gonna, they're gonna get me on that, but it's just different. It's, it's just very, very different. And I think because, I don't know, it's just something I grew up with. They're both really good, but Carnival for me is, is just. Yeah, I don't know. It's just, it's just something that sings to me.

• 44:15Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah. I mean, I get it. That's, yeah, that's your, your home.

• 44:18Joe Flamm?

  Like me and Adrian are in, we'll come and you know, you can make the case, you can make the case. I'm, I'm there for it. And then, you know, to reciprocate, I could bring you to the South Side Irish Parade, which is like our Carnival, but like not good.

• 44:30Adrienne Cheatham?

  Okay.

• 44:31Joe Flamm?

  But like very fun, very fun, very, very fun. It's like you've never had, you know, a Guinness and a Jameson at six thirty in the morning with a bagel. It's, it's pretty special.

• 44:42Adrienne Cheatham?

  And now Nina, there is a very special part of the show that, you know, we get real with one another about a funny time, a funny story in our career. And we call it walk in confessions. And I know you've got some good stories. So why don't you give us a walk in confession?

• 45:02Speaker 01

  So last, the first year we opened compare. We're, we're in a hotel, so we're open seven days a week and it was our first Mardi Gras. Of course, everybody thinks that the parades on Fat Tuesday are like in the evening. Dead wrong. They're, they start like six AM. And they roll until like two, three o'clock. So it's a full, full morning, half afternoon of just craziness in the city.

• 45:33Speaker 01

  And I'm like, there's no way we're going to be busy at the restaurant Fat Tuesday. Everybody's going to be out. Everybody's going to be drunk. Everybody's gonna just be at home after, right? So my husband and I, we got dressed up in our costumes, went to the parades and we had an early lunch. And then we went to the restaurant and I'm hanging out. I'm like, oh, it's not going to be busy. We got so busy. That I'm in these like purple tights with a gold boot too. And you know, my gold sneakers and all these beads and a big wig. And I jump on the line and I'm cooking food and then. The oyster, the oyster truck is like, yes, we don't have any more lemon, the oysters.

• 46:18Speaker 01

  And I'm like, shit. So I tell my sous chef, hey, jump in the middle, dig these guys out. My husband learns how to expert. I'm like, hey, run the pass.

• 46:29Speaker 01

  Of course, I can't get an Uber. I don't have my car because traffic and parking is a nightmare. I asked one of my, my cooks, I'm like, hey, borrow your bike. I need to go to the, the grocery store two blocks away, jump on there and I'm riding, going to the store to get like five lemons, come back, continue cooking. And I was just like, this is absolute madness. But now I know every Fat Tuesday when I work, don't wear tights.

• 47:03Speaker 01

  It was just most uncomfortable service, like wearing this big wig, sweating my nuts off, trying to cook this food.

• 47:12Joe Flamm?

  Just, just imagine you like trying to like really dig somebody out of the weeds too, like super serious, like in a wig, in a tutu and tights. Be like, we gotta go, like blah, blah, blah. They're like, I, why, I don't know. Like, I can't take you seriously. Like you're yelling at me in a wig, in a tutu. Like, you know what I mean? Like I'm.

• 47:30Speaker 01

  It was one for the books. I will say that. So now I told everybody, hey, guys, Fat Tuesday, we're gonna be busy. Like, don't be fooled. But it's a fun time. You know, the city is, it's, people, they're in a good mood, you know? And people come to the restaurant all dressed up and you see all the characters. So it's a fun time to be in Yonkers because nobody's in a bad mood. Everybody's having a good time. They're sugared up from all the eggs. And it's, it's a good time to be there alive.

• 47:58Joe Flamm?

  I like the idea too of people like walking in, seeing you like rocking service like that. They're like, oh, how fun. You know what I mean? Like, oh, that's so festive. Like, you know, it's fun that she like dressed up for the night. And you were like, I am fighting for my life back here. Like, you know what I mean? Like, about to ride somebody else's bike to get lemons two blocks away in a tutu. It's like where my day is at. You know what I mean? Like, this is not, this was not, you know, good time chef Nina right now. This is, you know.

• 48:24Speaker 01

  No, this, this was, I was a broken woman.

• 48:29Speaker 01

  Not in a good place.

• 48:31Joe Flamm?

  It's just like the after service of like, you just got like wrecked out of the line and you're like still in a tutu and tights and like a wig. You're just like, you're like, great, now I gotta walk home in this shit.

• 48:42Speaker 01

  Well, that's the best part. The wig was like sideways by the end of the show.

• 48:51Adrienne Cheatham?

  Oh, God.

• 48:53Speaker 01

  Not cute. It was not cute.

• 48:55Adrienne Cheatham?

  Only you could pull that off, seriously.

• 48:58Joe Flamm?

  I love that.

• 48:59Adrienne Cheatham?

  Oh, that is epic. Oh, my God. I love, I love Mardi Gras, but God, I'm glad I don't work in a restaurant in New Orleans when Mardi Gras comes around.

• 49:10Joe Flamm?

  I got the legs for those tights.

• 49:12Adrienne Cheatham?

  Thank you.

• 49:14Speaker 01

  I quit the side towel to fit in the tutu. So I'm just like, yeah, it was, it was not fun.

• 49:21Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah. Where do you put a side towel in a tutu?

• 49:26Joe Flamm?

  You can't even get an apron around it either. You know, it's all like puffed out. Like you just, you just, that you didn't light on fire is incredible.

• 49:33Adrienne Cheatham?

  And I hope those gold sneakers were non-slip, too.

• 49:40Speaker 01

  There's a lot of things with that wardrobe that went wrong, but hey.

• 49:44Adrienne Cheatham?

  You made it.

• 49:45Joe Flamm?

  Hey, you lived to fight another Mardi Gras chef. Thank you.

• 49:51Joe Flamm?

  Thank you so, so much for your time, your stories, everything.

• 49:55Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yes.

• 49:56Joe Flamm?

  It was, it was amazing.

• 49:59Speaker 01

  It's been my, like my cheekbones, like I've been laughing the whole time. It's like my face hurts.

• 50:06Adrienne Cheatham?

  You are a blast, chef. Thank you so much for joining us. That is it for this week's episode of The Chef's Cut. Be sure to subscribe wherever you're listening and leave a review, especially if you're watching us on YouTube where you can find full-length videos of every episode. And be sure to follow us at The Chef's Cut on IG. And for Joe Flamm, I'm Adrian Cheatham, and this has been The Chef's Cut, life beyond the pass.