Interview with Dale Levitski

AE: The editing made it seem like Howie didn't get along well with everyone, but you were just saying everyone got along really well. Was that just the editing?
DL: We all have our kitchen personalities and our home personalities. I'm a much different person in the kitchen. I'm much more assertive and aggressive, at least in my home kitchen, and much more demanding. We all have that powerful edge to us in the kitchen.

That's the version of Howie that people didn't get along with. In the kitchen, he is very headstrong. That's a little abrasive, especially when we're all control freaks usually in charge of our own restaurants. When you put all of those personalities together, something's going to be lacking. At home, though, we all got along great.

AE: It seems like the judging varied pretty considerably. Sometimes folks were criticized for not being team players. Other times they were criticized for not being independent enough. Ditto for following instructions. Sometimes chefs were criticized for not trying something different, then other times for not following instructions. What do you think of the judging overall?
DL: The points you bring up definitely were frustrating for us. You never knew what they were looking for. Last week, you were busting us for this, the week before that it was busting us for that. What did they want?

In retrospect, they want to see it all. You're put in these worst-case scenarios, and the decisions that they need to make can't be consistent because the situations are so different. What would be right one week, won't be right next week on the basis of the challenge. There are certain times when you need to be daring and certain times when you need to be conservative.

We talked about taking your clientele into consideration a lot. You didn't see that in the editing. They stressed knowing who you're cooking for. That can make or break you in a challenge. The judges did seem inconsistent, but they had to be.

AE: Who was the best judge — Padma, Tom, Gail, or Ted?
DL: I loved both Gail and Ted. I think they were very fair. Tom was definitely difficult, but it's because he wants to pull as much stuff out of you as he can. He's a tough judge, but he's also very understanding at the same time.

AE: Who was your favorite guest judge?
DL: Rocco, Anthony Bourdain, Danny Boulud.

AE: What was the worst decision the judges made?
DL: Sandee in episode two, getting booted too early. I understand why they cut her, but her dish did get great praise and I think it was a tough technicality and she went out too early.

AE: So if she's the one you felt went home too early, who hung on longer than they should have?
DL: Howie.

AE: The final three include a woman, a Vietnamese immigrant, and, as you describe yourself, a big gay chef. How significant is that?
DL: I was actually just thinking about that yesterday, looking at one of the websites. A lot of people might think it's planned by production or something like that, but it wasn't. It's very telling for our industry how well-rounded we are in the restaurant business. It's more than one screaming French chef. There are people from all walks of life that are great chefs, and great cooks. We're a well-rounded group.

AE: In one episode you said that you wanted to show that a gay chef could kick ass. How homophobic is the world of chefs, if it is?
DL: It depends. I was talking about this with one of my chefs. Some kitchens are very easy-going, but there are definitely others that have more testosterone where there's a lot of chest-puffing and dick waving in the kitchen. Winning in those kind of environments is really fun for me. I've been in some very chauvinistic kitchens, and proving myself, and being better than them, it makes me feel great. But it's few and far between that you're going to see that sort of thing.

AE: Did the other contestants have any reaction one way or the other to your being gay?
DL: It was a total non-issue.

AE: If you're not the winner who would you rather see — Hung or Casey?
DL: Oh, Casey, for sure.

AE: You were often shown complaining that Hung wasn't helping out during competitions. But wasn't this a competition, after all? Should he really be expected to help?
DL: I would say yes. It's called Top Chef. It's a competition about being a chef, so you have to act as a chef. You compete as a chef. It's not, "this is my food and I'm going to watch you fail."

The mark of a true chef is that he will help the person next to him. To me, that's competing as a good chef. It's not just about the good food. It's about representing who we are and what we do in our careers every day. If it means, helping someone out, I think that's an imperative quality in a chef, and I think it marks good competition. Not helping someone in the kitchen is very immature.

AE: Though it was ironic that Hung recently complained about no one helping him!
DL: Karma's a bitch. [laughs] In the last episode when he needed help, he knew I would give it to him, but I've gotten some flak in the blogs for seeming like a whiner about him not helping. I think Brian made some comments too. Just because I'm on a reality competition doesn't mean I'm going to change the type of chef that I am.

AE: We've talked about how editing can portray certain contestants certain ways. Who was the most misrepresented? Were you happy with your portrayal?
DL: I am happy with my portrayal. There are a lot of one liners I'm very happy they didn't use. [laughs] I have no filter, I guess. I think Joey got a bad rap. He's a super, super sweet guy, but he wasn't editing well. I don't think he was misrepresented, but they didn't show the better sides of him.