Louisville's Noam Bilitzer and Paducah's Sara Bradley are both still in the running for the James Beard Foundation's Best Chef award — which is broken down regionally across the United States — in the Southeast region.
Over the past decade, chef and restaurateur Sara Bradley has opened her farm-to-table restaurant freight house in Paducah, finished runner-up on "Top Chef: Kentucky" and the show's all-star season and won multiple "Chopped" reality competitions. Now she's hoping to take a James Beard medal to-go.
The western Kentucky native said ambition is a big part of her recipe for success.
"It actually reminds me that you cannot become stagnant, that you have to keep pushing forward," she said. "Because it's taken 10 years to get here. And you know, if it took me 10 years and I got this, then like that means that there's still more on the horizon."
Bradley's Paducah restaurant incorporates New Southern cuisine, combining it with flavors from around the Midwest and the globe. She said her inspiration has come from her travels, and from being in the kitchen with other talented chefs.
"I've continued my education, and I've gotten to travel and, through TV competitions, you expose yourself to chefs from all over the world who are cooking different styles of food than you," she said. "And so I've really tried to, like, glean as much as I can from everyone that I'm around."
Also among the five finalists is Noam Bilitzer, chef and owner of Louisville's MeeshMeesh.
He said being a finalist is "very humbling and shocking."
"Everyone that I've looked up to for the last 25, 30 years is going to be in the same room. … It's like imposter syndrome-esque type feelings, you know, almost to to be in that kind of same arena or stage with those people that have paved the way for this."
The Israeli-born restaurateur and chef's NuLu eatery MeeshMeesh pays tribute to flavors he grew up eating with a menu featuring Levantine cuisine made in places like Jordan, Syria, Northern Africa, Palestine and Lebanon.
The former "Chopped" champion said he wants the food he serves to do more than just taste good.
"I think ultimately, I really like things that are approachable and kind of create nostalgia — which [I realize] the flavors that we do at MeeshMeesh might not be super familiar for a lot of people. But at the same time, [food can] kind of bring back other memories," he said. "For me, it's always like evoking nostalgic memories while still enjoying a fun, hospitable experience that's genuine at the same time."
Each of the Bluegrass State chefs also credited their staff and the community around their restaurant as playing a large role in their journey to becoming finalists.
"My name is on it, but it really is recognition, I think, for everyone that works [at freight house and] for everyone that's worked here in the past," Bradley said.
Bilitzer added that, at MeeshMeesh, "There's a buy-in culture that everyone believes in and puts their own kind of uniqueness toward."
Both Bradley and Bilitzer have highlighted traditional Jewish recipes in their restaurant menus and cooking over the years. Bradley also noted how important it was for her to see not only two Kentuckian chefs named finalists, but for her to be able to share the honor with Bilitzer.
"What's the likelihood that two Kentuckians make the top five? And even more than that, it's like two Jews from Kentucky," she said. "He and I have been texting each other, you know that since it came out … saying, like, 'can't wait to get into fancy clothes and go up there and support each other.'"
The James Beard Foundation will name the award winner at a ceremony in Chicago on June 16.
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