Homewood Chef Jeffrey Compton to face off in New Orleans for King of American Seafood title

After winning the 2022 Alabama Seafood Cook-Off, Chef Jeffrey Compton of The Battery in Homewood is off to compete against 13 chefs from around the country in the 18th Annual Great American Seafood Cook-Off in New Orleans. Read on for the fin-tastic details.

Going for gold

Our very own Chef Jeffrey Compton is set to face off in the 18th Annual Great American Seafood Cook-Off, presented by Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser and the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board.

With accolades including Southern Living Magazine’s Best Restaurant Alabama in 2018, Open Table’s Top 50 Best Southern Restaurants in the Nation and Travel & Leisure’s Best Farm to Table Restaurant in Alabama at his previous position at Acre in Auburn, Chef Compton has some major accomplishments under his belt.

In April 2021, he was named executive chef of The Battery, a new sophisticated Southern kitchen and bar in Homewood. Now, he takes on the nation’s ultimate seafood cooking competition.

Most recently, Chef Compton took home the gold at the 2022 Alabama Seafood Cook-Off. The winning dish? Butter poached redfish with a potato and blue crab salad, late spring vegetables, lemon bay aioli and garden herbs—YUM.

He will now compete at the 2022 Great American Seafood Cook-Off in New Orleans on Saturday, August 6. The 18th annual event kicks off with Opening Ceremonies at 11:15AM as 14 chefs, each representing their home state, cook in front of a live audience and a panel of nationally-acclaimed judges.

Meet the competitors

Chef Compton is in good company at this competition. Here’s a full list of participants from across the country:

• Chef Amara Enciso: Brava Food, Juneau, Alaska
• Chef Nick Farrer: Isabel’s Amor, Gilbert, Arizona
• Chef Miles Angelo: Caribou Club, Aspen, Colorado
• Chef Al Massa:  Brotula’s Seafood House & Steamer, Destin, Florida
• Chef Amanda Cusey: Villa Harlequin, Lake Charles, Louisiana
• Chef Dila Mahoney: Dila’s Kitchen, Portland, Maine
• Chef Eric LeBlanc: Burtons Bar & Grill, Riverdale, Maryland
• Chef Erin Miller: Urban Hearth, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Chef Cooper Miller: Forklift, Tupelo, Mississippi
• Chef Christian Gill: Boomtown Biscuits & Whiskey, Cincinnati, Ohio
• Chef Mandisa Horn: Horn O Plenty Freshtaurant, Bedford, Pennsylvania
• Chef Nicholas Huckabee: A Difference in Dining, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
• Chef Jesse Cavazos: Cru’ Food and Wine Bar; Houston, Texas

During the competition, each chef will prepare a dish highlighting the use of domestic seafood while interacting with the live audience and celebrity hosts, including Chef Cory Bahr—Food Network Star finalist, Food Network Chopped! champion and a former King of Louisiana Seafood—and KLFY TV10’s Gerald Gruenig, along with “chef ref” Chef Keith Frentz, also a former King of Louisiana Seafood.

Each dish will be scored based on presentation, creativity, composition, craftsmanship and flavor.

“The Great American Seafood Cook-Off is the perfect stage to celebrate Louisiana and America’s domestic seafood industry—the best in the world. This year there will be a very talented field of chefs from all over the country vying to be crowned the next ‘King or Queen of American Seafood’ right here in New Orleans.”

Billy Nungesser, Lt. Governor, Louisiana

Watch him compete

• When: Saturday, August 6 | Opening ceremonies begin at 11:15AM
• Where: Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, 900 Convention Center Blvd, New Orleans, LA 70130
• Learn more | Tickets are $10 at the door

For more buzzy news like this delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our FREE daily newsletter.