Welcome to Where Chefs Eat on Vacation, a column in which chefs tell us what they ate on a recent trip.

James Beard Award-winning chef and restaurateur Nina Compton has built a career on vibrant flavors and her innate curiosity of the world around her. Born in Saint Lucia and now based in New Orleans, the Top Chef runner up and fan favorite began her culinary career in kitchens like Daniel in New York City and Scarpetta in Miami Beach before opening her own Caribbean-inspired gems in New Orleans: Compère Lapin and Bywater American Bistro (BABs, for those in the know).

Her cooking celebrates a deep love of place and culture, so it’s no surprise that one of her latest vacations was to Cartagena, Colombia. Compton had been yearning to visit the Caribbean port city for quite some time—really, since she was last invited in 2022 for a guest chef series that she wasn’t able to attend. Two years later, she finally cleared her plate and visited for a week with her husband in August 2024, splitting her time between the charming, walkable streets of the city’s Old Town and the tucked-away Blue Apple Beach, on a smaller island nearby.

To prepare for her trip she chose not to prepare at all. “I didn’t research any restaurants nor read reviews ahead of my trip,” Compton says. Other than a few recommendations from mutual friends, all local to Cartagena and in the chef space, the goal was to be “surprised, with no expectations.” That approach led Compton to hidden gems, spontaneous bites, and a strongly held belief that Cartagena deserves a bigger place on the global culinary map.

“When traveling for food, I don’t think Cartagena is really it for most people,” says Compton. “And it should be, because there are so many beautiful and thoughtful experiences to be had there, most that you can’t indulge in anywhere else.” Just in time for the release of her brand new cookbook Kwéyòl/Creole (Penguin Random House) this month, Compton chatted with us about her favorite places to eat, drink, and wander in Colombia’s most colorful city.

What was the first thing you ate when you got off the plane?

We drove right to the Old Town, which I recommend people stay in, because it is just stunning. We dropped our bags at the Townhouse Art Hotel. I was excited about everything.

My husband and I walked around the corner from our hotel, and right off the whim there was this beautiful alleyway with pink and yellow houses, topped with lots of plants and flowers. It was one of those heavenly moments, where the sun shines down, and every corner from there was more beautiful than the last; each such a sweet surprise. It was just before lunch time, so many people were bustling around, some selling coconuts, some coffee, others, a special type of fried bread. It was total sensory overload for a chef—because there are fresh fruit carts that are perfectly arranged everyday, so much thought is put into the way they have everything displayed, the oranges, the mangoes, the berries from the palm trees. As they say there, “you eat with your eyes”—so it’s very appealing, these colors and smells. For my first taste, I just wanted to eat like a local and just go and try the street food—it was an ice cold coconut from one of these stands, where they cut the shell open for you to scoop the jelly out.

What was your go-to breakfast every day?