LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Kentucky chef is one of 15 chefs competing for a quarter of a million dollars on national TV.

Chef Paula Endara is featured on Season 22 of Top Chef. She is the executive chef at The Manchester, a boutique hotel in Lexington's Distillery District. It features The Granddam and The Lost Palm.

Endara is originally from Ecuador and said she didn't start out in culinary, she first wanted to be in the music industry.

"I was waiting tables, and then I fell in love with hospitality, and those two just click, you know, it made me feel comforting, and it's nostalgic, and it's so fun to just connect with people you know, through food," she said.

Her 'Top Chef' profile says her background includes "an impressive resume that includes specializing in avant-garde cuisine at the Basque Culinary Center, working at a nomad restaurant concept in Quito where she collaborated with Amazonian farmers, to opening her restaurant Roots in Arkansas that blended her Ecuadorian flavors with fresh local ingredients."

Endara said she tried to prepare for the show, but nothing compares to the rush of actually getting to compete.

"It's really easy to judge when you're watching on the couch," Endara said. "I don't know if it was being in a different city or a different kitchen that you've never been in before. Sometimes it's fun, sometimes it's like 'oh wow, this is crazy.'"

As an introvert, she said it has been an adjustment to find she has fans.

"I never had people asking me for pictures and autographs, and now I have that, which is kind of weird some way, and exciting as well, but it's been fun." she said.

This season of Top Chef is broadcasted on Bravo on Thursdays at 9 p.m. eastern time and the next day on Peacock.

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