Lexington chef to compete on upcoming season of Bravo’s ‘Top Chef’
Kentucky fans of the “Top Chef” cooking competition will have a new contestant to root for when the new season starts: A Lexington chef will be on the reality television show.
The lineup for Season 22 will include chef Paula Endara of The Manchester, an award-winning hotel in the Distillery District that features the Granddam main restaurant as well as the Lost Palm rooftop bar and lounge.
The hotel posted the news on social media, saying, “Our very own @#chefpaulaendara will be hitting the screen in the new season of Bravo’s top chef as they head North to Canada! The season premieres on March 13th, and we’ll be cheering her on from Lexington every step of the way!”
The season kicks off on Bravo on March 13 at 9 p.m. and episodes stream online the next day on Peacock.
According to the Manchester, Endara is a James Beard foundation bootcamp alum from Quito, Ecuador who has been a chef and mixologist in the hospitality industry for more than 13 years.
She specialized in avant garde cuisine at the Basque Culinary center in San Sebastian, Spain and worked at a nomad restaurant concept in Quito in collaboration with Amazonian farmers before founding Roots Restaurant in Jonesboro, Ark.
At Granddam and Lost Palm in The Manchester, Endara serves a menu of Bluegrass cuisine and offers Latin-inspired share plates.
According to published reports, Endara and the 14 other chefs will compete for the largest prize in the history of the show, including a $250,000 grand prize plus other prizes on the TV show, and for the first time a chance to present at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards in Chicago.
This isn’t the first time Kentucky has had a chef on the show. In 2017, “Top Chef” was filmed largely in Kentucky, with Paducah native Sara Bradley coming in second in the finale. She will make an appearance on the show sometime during the season.
Bradley and her Freight House restaurant were recently named a semi-finalist for a James Beard Award.
This story was originally published January 29, 2025 at 10:45 AM.
