Meet Paula Endara, the Ecuadoran chef representing Lexington on TV show ‘Top Chef’
How did a chef from Ecuador end up on “Top Chef” representing Kentucky?
“It’s a funny story,” said Paula Endara, who will make her reality show debut March 13 on Bravo’s cooking competition show.
Endara, a native of the capital city of Quito, did not originally plan to be a chef at all.
“I was a singer,” she said. She wanted to study music and started working in a restaurant to make money for college during a sabbatical.
“Then I loved it, and my passion became food and hospitality. So I switched gears,” she said. She still sings, just not professionally. “I think I made the right choice,” she said with a laugh.
She came to Lexington after opening Roots Restaurant in Jonesboro, Ark., with her then-husband.
Through friends of friends, she met Nik Feldman, who was building The Manchester, the boutique hotel in Lexington’s Distillery District.
“Nik reached out, invited us to see the project. I came here, fell in love with the city, the horse farms and the project,” Endara said. She decided to move to the Bluegrass with her two sons, Liam, now 6, and Logan, now 4.
“When you’re a foreigner, you’re always looking for someplace that gives you that feeling like home. And even though I had an amazing time in Arkansas, it always felt temporary. When I visited Lexington, I had that feeling, home,” she said. No matter what the future brings, “this is where I want to settle, where I want them to grow up.”
Although she said she’s met only one fellow Ecuadorian in town so far, she’s discovered a big and welcoming Latin community here. “It’s nice to speak your own language,” she said.
When she opened Granddam, the restaurant in The Manchester, the menu was focused on Appalachian cuisine, she said. But she has gradually been introducing more Latin and Ecuadoran touches.
“Now people will feel more of my culture in every dish,” she said. “It’s a really good marriage between Latin and the Southern cuisines.”
She just introduced a new menu. The big hit so far: “People are loving the smoked lavender duck with roasted beets, and a salad with vanilla dressing,” she said.
From the beginning she’s been doing special dinners once a month, often tied to a particular distillery or other Kentucky feature. Now she has teamed up with Bites of the Bluegrass’s Erin Goines, and together they are doing history-based dinners.
For February, the theme was Lovers of Lexington for Valentine’s Day; for March it will be Women of Lexington.
How do you design a dinner around history?
“I always like a challenge, so doing dinners inspired by different things, especially history, is always fun,” Endara said.
That love of challenge is what pushed her to go on “Top Chef,” a weekly show where the chefs compete in a variety of ways, often creating themed dishes in a very short time, with mixed results.
“We all as chefs, at some level, are very competitive,” Endara said. “I love a challenge, and I always want to improve my skill set. I wanted to see what I was capable of doing in such a pressured environment, though we’re all used to pressure.”
She said the best thing about the show was the connections she has made with the other “cheftestants” who have become another family. The most surreal thing was having head judge Tom Colicchio, perennial judge Gail Simmons and host Kristin Kish walk in and taste and critique your food.
“That would shake us to the bones,” she said. “Every Judges Table and Quick Fire I could hear my heart in my ears. It’s very nerve-wracking... you never get used to that feeling.”
For the season 22 opener, set in Canada, The Manchester will host a watch party, starting about 8:30 p.m. in the hotel lobby and at Lost Palm, the rooftop bar. And over the following weekend, guests can come get a taste of “Top Chef” was like: Endara will offer a special of what she cooked on the show.
“Top Chef” airs every Thursday at 9 p.m. on Bravo and streams on Peacock starting the next day.
