Meet the Kentucky contestant on the upcoming season of 'Top Chef'

Bailey Loosemore | Courier Journal

It's time to throw out your final guesses.

For eight months, Kentuckians have wondered who would represent them on the upcoming season of Bravo's "Top Chef," a culinary competition that spent almost two months this year filming in Louisville, Lexington and Lake Cumberland.

Surely we'd have at least one entrant in the show's 16th season, which will premiere Dec. 6, according to a Thursday announcement.

Maybe our contestant would be Ryan Rogers, the young gun owner of three Louisville restaurants. Or possibly Ouita Michel, the successful founder of seven restaurants around Lexington.

Let's have a drum roll for the chef we hope will make us proud —

Sara Bradley, we're rooting for you, girl!

Read more: 'Top Chef' announces contestants, premiere date for Kentucky season

Bradley is the chef-owner of Freight House, a 3-year-old restaurant in Paducah — population 24,000.

She grew up and attended high school in the Western Kentucky city but left for 15 years to pursue a degree in psychiatry, before ditching that path for life in the kitchen.

After working in restaurants from Charlotte to Chicago, Bradley returned to Paducah to open Freight House with her parents.

"My mother does all the desserts fresh every day," Bradley said Thursday.

"I'm trying to redefine the flavors of the New South," the chef said of her restaurant. "Everything is locally sourced. I think a lot of customers will say, 'I wish my mother could have cooked like this.' It's food you're comfortable with, food that you know but in a whole new, interesting way with unique flavors."

Bradley said she returned to Paducah because she didn't want to be "another cook in another big city."

Related: Here's where 'Top Chef' hosts and judges have stopped in Louisville

"Top Chef" head judge Tom Colicchio, who spent a few weeks in Kentucky during the new season's filming, said Bradley fits with a national trend in that sense.

"A lot of chefs are coming to big cities, they're getting experience but they're going back to their homes," Colicchio told a Courier Journal reporter earlier this year. "The economics of opening a restaurant are a little easier in some of the smaller cities. Rents aren't crazy."

Bradley said she applied to participate in "Top Chef" because she felt she could represent Kentucky well.

Though the competition was stressful, she said she had an amazing experience and loved showing off state to her fellow contestants.

See also: What does Top Chef mean for Louisville? We went to Denver to find out

"It was probably the most pride I've ever felt in my life," Bradley said. "I was glad they had someone from Kentucky because there's so many cool things people just don't know about us. I was excited to tell all the other contestants, 'Y'all don't know what you've been missing.'"

Bradley and 14 other "Top Chef" contestants will appear in the season premiere at 9 p.m. Dec. 6.

Find more information about the show and catch a sneak peek at bravotv.com.

Bailey Loosemore: 502-582-4646; bloosemore@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @bloosemore. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/baileyl.

'TOP CHEF' SEASON 16

What: The 16th season of Bravo's "Top Chef" features 15 professional chefs competing for a $125,000 grand prize.

When: Season premieres at 9 p.m. Dec. 6

Chefs:

Eric Adjepong; Washington, D.C.

Sara Bradley, Paducah, Kentucky

Kelsey Barnard Clark; Dothan, Alabama

Edmund "Eddie" Konrad; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Pablo Lamon; Miami Beach, Florida

Natalie Maronski; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Michelle Minori; San Francisco, California

Nini Nguyen; Brooklyn, New York

Brandon Rosen; San Mateo, California

Kevin Scharpf; Dubuque, Iowa

Caitlin Steininger; Cincinnati, Ohio

Justin Sutherland; St. Paul, Minnesota

David Viana; Asbury Park, New Jersey

Adrienne Wright; Boston, Massachusetts

Brian Young; Boston, Massachusetts

More info: Visit bravotv.com.