Top Chef Final Three: Interview with Dale Levitski

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The ultimate "bad news bear" made it to the final three on Top Chef!

Dale Levitski has been the Top Chefunderdog for most of the season, so getting to the final three is a huge success. Even Dale wasn't sure he would get this far. "I think going into the competition I knew that I had the skills to get to the final four... But in a lot of the challenges I definitely don't think I performed to the best of my ability," he said.

Dale explains the reason for his shortfalls was because, "Before we started the show, I had not cooked in over a year, so I was rusty." As he explained during his "Why I Should Stay" speech, the restaurant Dale had worked for closed, causing him to lose his dream job and work front of the house in a new restaurant.

Though Dale said he became increasingly reacquainted with his culinary skills as the competition progressed, the dish he is least proud of was made when it was down to the final five cheftestants. At Le Cirque, the chefs were given a halibut that only the VIPs are treated to. They then had to recreate it to the best of their ability, under a time constraint, of course. When it was Dale's turn, he picked up a French mandolin and asked someone how to work it. "It made me look like a jackass," he says of the event. "In a stressful environment you do a lot of stupid things... That quickfire in particular, when it was all done, I've never been so embarrassed in my life."

Something else also happened at that quickfire. Hung was the first to partake in the challenge, and as soon as he finished he knew he did a great job (he ended up winning). The rest of the contestants then asked Hung what he did, and in turn told them that he couldn't say. Why would he give away his secrets to provide the other contestants with an advantage? Dale's response? "Even though this is a 'competition' it doesn't mean I'm going to change the type of chef I am... it's natural for me to be like 'Hey, how'd you do that?'... I wasn't looking for a leg up or advice on how to do it."

Chefs, Dale said, are "always sharing knowledge of how to do things... I guess some don't... Hung was in a more severely competitive drive. I'm competitive in a much different way." How? "Basically what it comes down to is whether you collaborate or not," Dale explained. "You can choose your path to the end result. You can have 'sportsmanship' or be cutthroat."

Whether or not Dale's attitude on TopChef helped or hindered him in the competition, it's sure getting him noticed at home. "I pretty much get recognized every where I go... I guess I'm a pretty recognizable person." Dale, who admits to very rarely cooking for himself, said his popularity has gotten him into a bit of trouble. "I got busted at Taco Bell twice... this girl said, 'You can cook better than this!'"

"People kind of look at you and follow you around a little bit. I've been chased down the street three times in the past week and a half. Sometimes it's kind of scary," Dale said. Yet when it all comes down to it, he said, "You really kind of look around and say, 'Is this real?'"

While the new found fame might be hard for Dale to wrap his mind around, he said he'd do Top Chefagain in a heartbeat. "We all survived a plane crash and you can't explain the experience," he said of his time on the show. "You go insane [on the show]. You can see it in the interviews as the season progresses. We get bonkers... You don't know what time of day it is. You don't know what date it is. You don't know what's going on in the world. You're doing random things you've never done in your life and you get numb and a little wacky."

Wacky or not, Dale managed to redeem himself after his string of bad luck with an elimination challenge win - his first - to send him to the final three. Now viewers just have to stay tuned to Bravo Wednesday night at 10 p.m. for the Top Chef finale to see how much further Dale can go.

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