P.E.I. chef Kimberly Conway grew up watching the The Food Network, so she was thrilled to be chosen as a contestant for the upcoming season of Top Chef Canada.

It didn't really hit her until she stepped on the stage, though.

"My first day on set, I had a very big 'aha!' moment when I looked around and realized that I had grown up watching this stage in this particular area for many years — and now I was living in it," said Conway, who at 29 is the third-youngest of the 11 contestants this season.

"Even now, thinking back on it, it's almost unbelievable that I even did this, and that I got to actually check something off my bucket list that I honestly never thought that I'd be able to do."

The episodes have already been taped for the 10th season of Top Chef Canada, which premieres on Sept. 26. Conway, the head chef at The Brickhouse Kitchen and Bar in Charlottetown, will compete against the other chefs for the title and a cash prize of $100,000.

Conway, who once worked as a sous chef at the former Terre Rouge restaurant under Season 8 contestant Lucy Morrow, can't reveal the outcome, but she said the experience was "almost like a surreal feeling."

"Coming from P.E.I., we don't always get as much traction as some of the other chefs coming from larger cities like Toronto and Montreal. So it's nice that I get to bring a little bit more fame to P.E.I., so that way we can showcase what we do here and what our talents are here, because people don't get to see that."

Conway had auditioned for the show once before. She submitted a cooking video and was "starstruck" when she got the call telling her she had won a spot this time.

Staff at the Brickhouse are pushing for a watch party, Conway said.

"My staff at Brickhouse is very excited. They obviously did not know what I was up to during the time of filming. So they're all insisting on a watch party. I've heard some T-shirts are going to be made with my face on them, but I'm very excited about that.

"A little bit overwhelming, but I'm very excited."

With files from Angela Walker

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