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

This week on the Chef's Cut,

“we have a claimed chef, cookbook author,”

and Caribbean cuisine champion, Nina Compton. We're talking with Nina about the top chef's second place club. We were both robbed. (laughing) Is Caribbean cuisine having a moment

or is this a movement? - Fine, nine in Caribbean restaurants. That didn't really exist for a very long time. - And she's gonna share some Marty Grahotics. People are gonna be judging me really hard

to like, you didn't say it out. - Be sure to leave a review wherever you're listening to the show. All right, let's bring Nina in. (upbeat music)

Nina, we are so excited to talk to you today. Thank you so much for joining us. - We have happy to be here. - And we're happy to celebrate Marty Grahotics with you. I warm my orange today.

- King cakes are flowing. Everybody's looking forward to Marty Grahotics. - I love Marty Grahotics. One of my favorite times a year.

“And one of my questions is, I think what I didn't realize,”

like when I'm thinking New Orleans, it's you've been there for a long time. Now your season of Top Chef was there. You've kinda, I think for a lot of people that am I, what I think of New Orleans chefs,

like you're, 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 not New Orleans and then ended up moving there. And I was just curious, like, how did you get there?

You know, what happened that you ended up moving on from where you were in Florida and all these, you know, you worked for a credible chefs. You worked for Norman Van Aiken, which is a name I haven't seen on a thing in a while.

And I was like, oh my God, Norman Van Aiken, what a legend, what a legend. - Right, and Daniel Balloon's got Conan's, one best chef, you know, James Beard in 2018. - Yeah, it's been a wild ride.

And when I look at, you know,

“coming from San Lucia, very, very small island.”

And when I saw it cooking my mom's, you know, I told her, as I was working in these hotels back home, I'm like, I really wanna go to coronary school. So, luckily I was able to go to the CIA in Hyde Park. And for me, when I came to coronary school,

it was always, I'm gonna go to coronary school

and then I'm gonna move back to San Lucia. But then I'm like, no, I can't go back just yet 'cause I'm already 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 chef. So back in 2000, Daniel Balloon 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 is amazing. So for me, it was always go work for Chef Norman and then onto 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 Colour when they were redoing the fountain blue. So it was an amazing grand opening. I wanted to be part of that.

And, you know, I was with Scott from 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, can we talk to Chef Nina? I said, this is actually during South Beach for when wine.

I remember this thing, we were so busy and they're like, we want to talk to you about, that, that, that, that, that, that, I'm like, listen, I'm really busy. Just send an email to Nina [email protected]

and I hang up the phone. I'm expecting an email within 24 hours. The weekend goes by, a week goes by, nothing. So I'm like, oh, this one's just been a prank call or whatever it was.

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 forgot the email. And they're like, okay, spelled 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, talk into the producer. And I'm like, this is ready for top chef, like the top chef show. And they're like, yeah, we want to,

we want to hopefully have you 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 because even though I was living in Florida,

I've never been to Louisiana. And I've just heard so many things about the city, the food, the culture, everything. And when we film top chef there, I told myself, I'm like, we to find a way for us to get back there.

And as you guys also know, once you finish top chef,

You get all these people want to open a restaurant, move ahead, do this. You're all over the place. And we had interviewed so many people for restaurants with Miami restaurants in LA,

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. And I remember going into that space, which was under construction. And dirt floor is wires hanging down. And we walked in and we walked right out.

And I told my husband, this is the spot. Nice. I love that. 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 rot iron, the windows facing the street. I mean, it's just such a great space. And like New Orleans makes so much sense.

And it's, you know, again, like one of those high site dates where it's like, oh, yeah, like Nina and New Orleans. Like it's like a perfect match made in heaven. But like the wildness, like me and Adrian,

we're 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 and Denver, I love California, I don't know. 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 that it's brilliant. And you know, you've obviously got extremely well there. But you see extraordinarily happy there.

But it's like, it's kind of a wild thing to do. It is, but you know, I go with my gut is something feels off. I'm not gonna 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. And I am so blessed to live in this city. And it was actually very intimidating because when we moved off that was stuff

and we were open to 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 something in the local paper

saying top chef, contestant Nina Compton, moves to New Orleans, open restaurant. And people were stopping my husband. 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'd 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 prevails.

Here's the guide to call for crawfish. Here's a guide you call for produce. Here's a fisherman guy. And my husband is like, wow, this is so crazy. People here are so nice.

And what I love about this chef community here is not a competition. Everybody wants to see everybody thrive.

“And that's what we felt when we were open to 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 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 than everybody's thriving. - 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 'cause 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? - Yes. - 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. At no less than five people walked past them and we're like chef.

I saw you on top chef walked right past Victor Cruz and at the time he was one of the hottest athletes and I was like, I'd love New Orleans. This is amazing. 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. (laughing)

On our final use of top chef. - This side, people still stop me. I was just walking and people were just stopping and being like, you were rotten, they just keep walking. (laughing)

- Coming to the restaurant and they'll get up and they'll be like, you were robbed, me and I'm like, guys, it's okay, I'm good, I'm quite content, I have restaurants, I'm good,

“I'm okay, I've moved on, I think I'm doing okay.”

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

- Yes, yes, not me to go for this part of the conversation,

should I just come back because this is, I like if it's her here actually. (laughing) - That show is, it's crazy how people are so invested emotionally into this show and you'll forever be a top chef

“person in their mind and I think that's something”

that's really beautiful about this show. And as more seasons come along, I just see the top chefs, contestants, family, get bigger and bigger and as people I haven't met, that once you're in that group of top chef family,

you're in it for life. It's almost like a mob family, you know, where we just with unspoken and we're all in the same page and we all know what we have to do. - I love it, a mob family.

- Yeah, I actually, I got, I got offers, somebody offered to kneecap Joe after our, after our finale aired 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?" (laughing) - It's the Chicago way, I respect it, you know what I mean? If you don't have anybody coming for you, you're not doing enough.

- 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 one of your restaurants and Larry in the pre-shift speech was like,

"What are we doing this house? We come in second!" (laughing) - I mean, 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, 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 it,

it'd be like, oh, let's see where this weird disc 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?

- Right. - Qualllum poor. You know, like, it's like a wild way to see anything. It's like, yeah, I saw this city while people were like, kind of trying to like fuck with me every moment of every day and it was like amazing and incredible and terrible.

- It's a wild thing 'cause 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 gonna go do that thing. 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's like, can we get coffee so you can give me 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, 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 new trigger.

Maybe you're gonna be an EHL and said, I said, mom, it's not that pedestrian. They might have one or two of those things, but you can't 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? (laughing) Right, that's funny. 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 wanna go

back. But you were like, oh, well, I could go back. And it actually got me very close during 2020 'cause they're like, we're gonna be doing this all-stars at London and then I'm like, yeah, the restaurants

'cause I was COVID, you know, I'm like, maybe I'll go back. And then I'm just like, nah, I just, if I don't win it, then I know, I'm just, I'm gonna be gonna stop where I am. I'm just gonna stop here, I'm good.

I'm gonna keep it where I am. - Yeah, and it's so cool 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,

a 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

And that's the food that you do at Compare Le Pen

and you had at, you know, at Babs.

“You know, everything is what we know you as didn't start”

until you were doing that food. And, you know, 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 confidence like cook that.

- That's a very thoughtful thing, you know, when I decided to do the show, I called my monoc, 'cause Scott told me, I called Scott as soon like the email, I'm like, "What should I do?" He's like, "Go for it," he's like, "You might win."

He's like, "It's gonna be an experience "you should definitely do it." So I'm like, "All right, good, call my monoc, "Hey mom, I'm gonna be on 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, there's don't watch the show." (laughing) 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 a back of it, 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." I can cook French, Italian, Caribbean, Asian, whatever it is, I know they would judge, right,

'cause 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 had 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 it to 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 watch that show until pretty much the finale.

And my mom called me. Of course, we already, it's ready to prerecord. So we already know who the winner is. And I call my mom the now, the finale. And I said, "Hey, just so I didn't win."

She's like, "Well, you know, everybody back home," they basically had the capital city, castries, basically blocked off. And they had a big viewing party, T.V., couching, whole thing.

People had shared with my face on it, our top chef. And people were going crazy. And she's like, showing me the video of the setup for this thing. And I'm just dying, because I'm like, these people are gonna be so pissed when they know that I didn't win.

So the next morning, wake up to a flood of Facebook messages. You were robbed.

Tom Kalikyo can never come to San Luisia here.

And my mom told me that they had a picture of him in the air for the big ex that people were just like Tom can not come to this country. Be on the lookout if he comes here. They're like, "Padman, 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 a solution that was behind me. It was the entire Caribbean. And 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 Cello and shit."

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. - 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 thing.

We've talked about this with Jamila. We've talked about, we've talked about Caribbean cuisine so much on the pot. We felt like you kicked this off almost quietly. Like it was this quiet spark from New Orleans

that feels like it's just kicked off a power keg of it. Now, in the best way. - Yeah, Caribbean was definitely having a moment. And I think the reason for that is because for the longest time, everybody has gone to the trend-adding roti shop,

they've been to the Jamaican jerk place. Doubles, roti, jerk chicken, rice and peas, beef pies. So that's gonna be what people have been exposed to.

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, 20 years ago. So people are hungry for this kind of food.

They're curious, they wanna try something. And I think Caribbean food definitely because people have had the usual suspects, you know, concrete, as you're 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. So you look above in New York where Paul Carmichael has South. Not many people have South on their menus,

but he's doing that.

“So I think a lot of chefs because the diners curious”

and their engaging is kind of cuisine, it allows the chef to become more creative and put those dishes that all the people are not exposed to and people are excited about it. - 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? - 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 of 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 supporting it, they're behind it.

“- I think it always takes somebody to show”

kind of like proof of concept 'cause I feel like it's chefs a lot of times, you know, there's that balance of like, well I could do this food that I would really wanna do but will make me accomplish the things

I wanna accomplish, you know, whether that's winning awards or you know, running a successful restaurant or building out, you know, the bread or whatever. And you took it and you did literally all of those things. You know what I mean?

Like you wanna James Beard Award, best in a chef, all these things, you know, you've had this long-saving restaurant in New Orleans built this beautiful thing. I think that, you know, blaze 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 wanna do. I don't have to fit into the framework that I've always looked at as, you know what I mean? Like if you wanna be as serious, you know,

“by dieting chef, whatever, like you have to do it”

this way. And I think 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.

- 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 gonna get attention that, you know, the media is gonna 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've 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 and yoke and like this gorgeous curry sauce, like to be able to do that and not care about 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 Gourd Day, we see, you know, Kwame, we see Paul Carmichael, you know,

doing Kabawa and Pam Caribbean cuisine there. But you were really like the OG of doing this. Well, you guys are making me blush. But again, 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 Gale 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 being the bearish bonds again, again, that just made me feel like, okay, this is, I think I'm good here, I'm not gonna close in six months. And I think because New Orleans is such a foody 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 gives us chef confidence

And it was a very scary thing because I told my husband,

I'm like, I'm gonna put curry going 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 'cause it's not gonna sell. And we sell so much gold that it's just a thing,

“people come for that goat and again, I think it's because”

people gave me the confidence when they try the dish. And like, this is really good, I'm like, okay, well, let's just keep it going. - And it's there any greater motivation on Earth than proving your husband or wife wrong?

Like, really, you know what I mean? Like, you know what I mean? We'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. Well, we actually put a goat farmer out of business right before the pandemic 'cause he comes to me. He was a goat farmer and this is it becomes 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 'cause initially it was just like,

it's then me one goat for this week and it was like two and it was just like a lot of goat you're going through each week. Goat day is like such a lengthy process. It's a three day process of grinding the goat overnight,

brazing it, taking the meat off, portioning it. So when it becomes goat day, it's an intense day that every oven in our kitchen is full of goat. Full for hours. And it's such a process that we start 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 got to a lot of goat. - This is giving me some flashbacks to stories, Joe has told me about like breaking down pigs,

it work and brazing and like all this stuff and taking up all the ovens. Oh yeah. - We're getting to get these done. - The portion of the goat, we broke out a couple of goats

that were all the goat. Chicago too, we had, we went through a couple, you know, six of those a week and it was like,

“I think, yeah, I think between you and staff,”

you both have decreased the goat population of the United States by like 75% of the past, okay? - One thing that I love, 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 throughline in both of them that kind of informs that cuisine and also Indian, you know, 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 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 pulled up memories, I think for so many people, even if it is something

you're not familiar with.

“- Yeah, I think, you know, Paul Carmichael”

and we had a very lengthy chat and we were saying that we got to treat the Caribbean as its own continent, not just individual islands.

And I never thought about 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 some of like Barbados, it is predominantly British, then you have

Selencia 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 Cateena, it is heavily African,

somewhere like Brazil, when I went to Brazil, I was just like, oh my gosh, I know all these dishes. They look there, there's always that, that do line. And it's Africa, the same thing in the islands and it's also African influence.

That's the deep connection.

- Yeah, and I always tell people like,

you know, the same thing with Southern food. People know like, you said the usual suspects, I always call it the greatest hits. Like people know collar 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 like they do to Italian and French cuisine,

you can look at it and say, let's bring up those like B sites,

the condiments, the things that this region is known for, but nobody knows about it outside of that. And it's really cool to see Caribbean cuisine expanding like that. And yeah, Joe 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. And we were just like, holy shit, like look at that.

“I mean, 'cause it's legitimately like I think if you asked”

in that era, like when you opened, like somebody had to do that and you did that. I was like, she just went out of show, saw this place, it was like, hell yeah, but come here, I'm gonna open it. I'm gonna open a restaurant that nobody's ever opened

and this shit's all gonna work out.

And I was like, I've never lived in.

I was like, yes, that is my shit. That is like the absolute, beautiful lunacy, full-sundidness of our industry, that I think, like 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. - Yeah crazy. - And they were like, no. - For me, it's like, what I make up my mind is just like,

I just go, you know, and I guess for me, it's always of just always pushing and there's failures, 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.”

And you know, you have to make it. And I think that is just the mentality of a chef is,

no matter how big the preplists,

no matter how many covers you have, you gotta make it happen. And that's just a chef mentality. - That's it. And I had that conversation, you know,

with one of my chefs, we're gonna do 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 in faith

that like the only way out is through, there's no backsliding or just going. - 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? - I wouldn't necessarily tell some people

“they shouldn't know about this, but I think”

I think coconut milk is the nectar of the gods. I use it in everything. And I think more people should use coconut milk in the 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 array, we wouldn't emulsify butter or cream, it would be olive oil.

And I'm not gonna go, that's an interesting way of making it still very luscious and beautiful. So that can stuck with me. But when I opened the restaurant,

it was just coconut milk and everything, 'cause 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 definitely more coconut

everything is a must. - 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 'cause we've got a new season that's coming up soon. So like, what advice do you wish you had gotten before going? - I don't think you can give anybody a advice.

I think my advice to anybody going in the show is just to have fun with it.

I remember the first episode,

everybody else just don't get voted off on the episode. Just gonna make it through restaurant wars, just get through that. And I just, I wasn't this house with 15, 16 other people and everybody's just talking about how many mission stars

they have or how many restaurants they own and I'm just sitting there, a CDC just quiet and overwhelmed at the same time. And it's like everybody gets in their own head and I just saw so many people as each episode

went, 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 of that challenge in 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 simple moment of the challenge and looking at who I'm cooking for,

And I think that's just the biggest thing

“'cause a lot of people have so focused on the end goal”

of winning the money that they look up on the like, I didn't even enjoy this 'cause it's, you can't recreate that. There's no script, it's just, everything is just on the moment.

- You know, I think of like our finale and like, you know, I remember, it was at one point, I remember it was the day before age, but it was like day off and it was like you and I were like, we're literally standing at half of a mountain and I asked for it.

And we were just like talking about, it's like, you believe we're fucking here. Like you really mean, like we believe we're doing this, right? Now it was like, when was your draw? It's like it's crazy that we're both standing right here.

Like you really mean that it's like we both, we grew up 10 minutes, we grew up 10 minutes away from each other, we made it true. - Really?

- And never knew each other until time.

- Never knew each other. And I was like, and we met in Colorado. You really mean, and what others journey together. You know, and that's, I think it's the best advice

“that you have to be, it has to be as much”

about the adventures and anything else. It has to be about those people next to you, the people you get to cook for and like, you know, the access to kitchens you get to go out and places you get to cook, it's just crazy.

It's so cool. - But if you're only focused on like, oh, I have to wait or I have not to lose, it's like you're missing so much. - Yeah, I think that 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 they really pay an old to where they're shooting in. And it's really thoughtful the way that they think about where they're cooking with the guest judges are. It's just very well done.

And if you're just focused on the finale, you're going to miss so many things. - But you don't think you would do it again. (laughing) - I listen, they call me and I'm like, I will, oh, guest judge.

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

- No, I did it, but you know, that it's, what I guessed judge 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 front of the house, think about it. You're cooking a service, not like for 25 people. You could use 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.

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

and your service and everybody, it's crazy. - Yeah, that's crazy. - That's such a hard challenge, but I will say that was like the one, you know, what I got out, I was like,

I got to 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'll be telling you, age, I still have the, our guest book from Kyle.

- Yeah. - Okay, it's city of the city of my bookshelf behind me. - Oh. - Somebody from the production team snuck it out to me, 'cause I had, you know, when I got kicked off the next day.

But like, but I still, I still haven't. And it was like, one of those like, I mean, it's so special, but it is, I wish you had the, I had the best fish cook in Kyle Rado, I buy a, I'm working on my life.

(laughing) I was, I wasn't sweating, it's cool. - No, no, no, no, no, no. - The best cooked fish with the worst overall dish though. That was a, it was funny 'cause,

- Hey, we still got that, duh. - We did, we got the W on that. It was so funny 'cause going in,

I had never seen top chefs.

So people are like, oh my God, it's restaurant wars. And I was like, what's that? - Oh my God. - 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.

That, I didn't boot it, baby. (laughing) 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 zest. Luckily, we had a charming guy on our team to handle that. - Yeah, that's always the best to have is somebody that can smooth over front of the house

'cause it's an important part of the restaurant.

“- 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 life. I've been a situation's way worse than this.

I got this guy, it's no worry.

Marty Grott-Ternen-Bernen. - Oh, my. - Kind of Marty Grott, 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? - Yes, go. - Okay. - So it's Marty Grott, King Cake.

What is your favorite King Cake in New Orleans? - Okay, this is gonna cause a huge debate because people like, is it hate, hey Dells? Is it Randazos? Is it this person?

I actually really enjoy a Galeta Roy. - Oh, oh, you're going way to French it up. - I'm going classic the Galet from either Lanier Bakery or Levy Bakery for me, just great.

“- Yeah, I think having a beautiful Galet.”

That's okay, that's controversial. That is gonna be very controversial. - People are gonna be judging me really hard like you didn't say, hey Dells. You didn't say Dong Fang, guys, I sugaries,

confections are not my thing, but the Galet is the way I go. - Okay, all right, you know. - No judgment, you're in a safe space. (laughing)

Jumbalaya or Gumbo? - Gumbo. - Mm, yep. - Now, I've heard some people put potato salad in their Gumbo in New Orleans.

Have you tried that? - It is, that is the move.

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

- I've heard of it, I've seen it, but I've never tried. - I've never seen it, I wanna try that. - You guys know that try it? It's a little minus potato salad and it's the one. - I trust you, so if anybody could convince me,

it's gonna be Nina Compton. All right, now another controversial one. Red beans and rice or rice and peas. - Oh, that's, I can't answer that. - Oh.

- Okay. Either way, can I say both? - You can say both. - You can say whatever you want. Adrian, Adrian's not actually a charge.

You don't gotta let her bully you. (laughing) - You know, I just like to start some shit sometimes. - Okay. - Your grandmother would call a shitster.

(laughing) - She's definitely one of those. - Have you met me? - No, no. - Okay, so Marty Grond, do you actually go to the parades or do you wait

for the after-parties? - 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 happens during service.

So the diet is pretty much empties out and everybody's trying to catch the shoe.

“So that's what I like my favorite parades”

'cause it goes right by the restaurant. So I don't have to worry about parking because, you know, being out in the cold, I can just pop out when the floats start to come by. - Nice.

- And now with Marty Grond beads, do you collect them forever or do you throw them away?

- So when we first moved here, we had bags, bags.

I mean, like huge bags of beads. And when we got it, when we bought our house, told Matt, when I said, you know, we just gotta stop collecting these beads. So some of those floats have like their custom beads.

So that's the ones we say, the other ones we just, we give away 'cause some people recycle them. So we just donate them at the end of the season. - Nice. - Okay, and last one, this one might be controversial too.

- Uh-huh. - New Orleans, Marty Grond, or Caribbean Carnival. - Caribbean Carnival, for sure. - Oh, yeah, people gonna get me on that, but it's just different.

“It's just very, very different than I think,”

'cause I don't know, it's just something I grew up with. They're both really good, but carnival for me is just, yeah, I don't know, it's just something that's things to me. - Yeah, I mean, I get it, that's, yeah, that's your home.

- Like me and Adrian are in, we'll come and you know, you can make it nice. You can make the case, I'm there for it. And then to reciprocate, I can bring you to the south side Irish parade, which is like our carnival,

but not good, but like very fun, very, very, very fun.

- That's like you've never had, you know,

I get a set of javasat at 630 of the morning with a bagel. It's pretty special. - 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? - So last, the first year we opened compare,

we're not hotel, so we're open seven days a week. And it was our first monograph. Of course, everybody thinks that the parades are at use they are like in the evening, dead wrong.

So it's a full, full morning, half afternoon

of just craziness in the city. And I'm like, there's no way we're gonna be busy at the restaurant fat to use. Everybody's gonna be out, everybody's gonna 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 gonna be busy. We got so busy that I'm in these like,

purple tights with a go-to and, you know, my goal sneakers and all these beads and a big wig. And I jump on the line, I'm cooking food. And the oyster truck is like, yes, we don't have any more lemon, the oyster is an unlike shit.

So I tell my sister, hey, jump in the middle. Dig these guys out. My husband learns how to X, but I'm like, hey, run the past. Yeah, of course, I can't get an Uber.

I don't have my car because traffic and parking is a nightmare.

I ask one of my cooks on my, or your bike, I need to go to the grocery store to block so a jump on there, and I'm riding, going to the spot 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. (laughing) It was just an uncomfortable service. Like wearing this big wig, sweating my nuts off, 'cause I cook this food.

(laughing) Just a tragedy to try to like really dig somebody out of the weeds to like super serious, like, in a wig, in a two to a time to be like, we gotta go, like, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. I don't know, like, I can't take you serious.

“I think you yelling at me at a wig at a two to two,”

like, you really need to be like, I'm-- (laughing) - It was one for the books, I will say that. So now I told everybody, 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 are not, 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 your arms

because nobody's in a bad mood. Everybody's having a good time. They're sure good up from all aches and it's a good time to be alive. - I like the idea, too, of people like walking in,

seeing you like rock and surface 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 dressed up for the night.

And you were like, I have fighting for my life back here. (laughing) I mean, like, about to ride somebody else's bike to get Levitt's two blocks away in a two to two. It's like, where my day is at?

You know what I mean? This is not, this was not, you know,

“a good time chef need to write now, this is, you know?”

- No, no, no, this was, I was a broken one. (laughing) Not in a good place. (laughing) - It's just like the after service of like,

you just got like, wrecked out of the live and you're like, still at a two to two in tights. It's like, wait, you're just like, you're like, right now, I gotta walk home in the chair. - Well, it's the best part.

The wig was like sideways, right in the side. (laughing) - Oh, good, not cute, it was not cute. Only you could pull that off, seriously. (laughing)

- I love that. - Oh, that is epic, oh my God, I love, I love Marty Grobba, God, I'm glad I don't work in a restaurant in New Orleans, right? When Marty Grobba comes around.

(laughing) - Oh, I've got the lights on the side. - Thank you. So, I could have a side towel to fit in the two to some, it was like, yeah, it was, it was not fun.

“- Yeah, where do you put a side towel in a two to two?”

(laughing) - You can't even get an apron around it either, you know, it's all like puffed out, like you just,

that you didn't light on fire as incredible.

- And I hope those gold sneakers were non-slip, too. (laughing) - It's a lot of things that I wore during the went wrong, but hey, we survived. - You made it.

- Yeah, you lived to fight another Marty Grobba. - Thank you, chef. - Thank you. (laughing) - Thank you so, so much for your time.

Your story is everything. - Yes. - It was amazing. - It's been, it's been, like, my cheekbones, like, I've been laughing the whole time

it's like my face hurts. (laughing) - You are a blast, chef. Thank you so much for joining us. That is it for this week's episode of The Chefs 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 for Joe Flam, I'm Adrian Cheatham, and this has been The Chefs Cut, life beyond the past.