Rising star Chef Nina Compton will open her first restaurant in New Orleans in Summer 2015 at the Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery.
The soon-to-debut Warehouse Arts District hotel is the latest from Provenance Hotels, a company with a passion for partnering with talented chefs.
Compton, a St. Lucia native trained in the French tradition at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, most recently served as Chef de Cuisine at Scarpetta at Fontainebleau in Miami Beach, Florida, where she worked with celebrity chef and restaurateur Scott Conant.
As owner and executive chef of the yet-to-be named restaurant at the Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery, she will channel the diversity of her culinary background while incorporating the rich food traditions of New Orleans.
Compton fell in love with the city during the filming of Bravo’s award-winning Top Chef (Season 11: New Orleans).
“There is a certain magic I found in New Orleans,” she says. “As I worked on concepts for my restaurant and looked at locations, I kept getting drawn to New Orleans. It’s a one-a-kind-place with amazing indigenous products and an international influence in all artistic aspects.”
The partnership with Provenance Hotels and her recent relocation to New Orleans has resulted in a surge of creativity as she continues to refine her new restaurant’s direction.
“Beyond all the great restaurants and bars, I’ve been hitting the local farmers markets and meeting with tons of purveyors, from fisherman to coffee roasters,” Chef Compton says. “My inspirations are eclectic but when it comes to ingredients, I definitely want to spotlight as much local product as possible.”
Provenance Hotels is no stranger to facilitating projects by top culinary talent. The company is fresh off recent successes, most notable partnering with James Beard Award-winner and Iron Chef America champion Vitaly Paley, who opened Imperial at Hotel Lucia in Portland and James Beard Award-winner Jason Wilson who opened Miller’s Guild at Hotel Max in Seattle.
“We are honored and delighted to help spur Nina’s return to New Orleans so she can realize her destiny and create what we are confident will be one of the city’s best new restaurants,” says Bashar Wali, president of Provenance Hotels.
Opening this spring, the Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery is located at the intersection of Tchoupitoulas and Lafayette Streets, blocks from the French Quarter and steps from the art galleries along Julia Street.
