Chicago chef Dale Levitski’s several months-long ride on Bravo TV’s cooking reality show “Top Chef” is nearly over. The winner of season three will be revealed during the finale, airing at 9 p.m. Wednesday, a special episode 15 minutes longer than the usual one-hour show — broadcast live from an undisclosed studio in Chicago (sorry, sworn to secrecy) on a closed set (sorry, no fans allowed in the audience)!
In an interview in anticipation of the finale, Levitski revealed nothing about the last two challenges or who might win. Indeed, neither he nor his competitors, Casey Thompson and Hung Huynh, know. But the 34-year-old chef, who has worked at such restaurants as Orange, La Tache and Trio Atelier, talked about what he has gained and made it to the end of the series.
The experience was nothing short of the salvation of his career, he said. Not because of the local celebrity it has brought him (though he is grateful for the support he has received here), but because of the personal change it has wrought. As Levitski revealed in a passionate speech at the end of last week’s episode, the closing of Trio Atelier in 2006 took a toll.
“That was my dream job,” he said. “I needed a lot of recovery time.” He didn’t cook for 18 months.
When the idea to audition for the show came along, he said, “I treated ‘Top Chef’ as a very personal journey. It was the perfect experience to be sequestered from the rest of the world, the ultimate timeout, I could do nothing but cook.”
In the beginning, it seemed that the judges, including host Padma Lakshmi and head judge Tom Colicchio, chef of Craft restaurants, were unimpressed. Colicchio even questioned if Levitski belonged on the show. It left Levitski thinking, “Tom and Padma hate me and I’m sick of it.” But their critiques were a kick in the pants.
“Those challenges should have been a cakewalk,” Levitski said. “They made me really start to wake up.” But his skills returned slowly. Sometimes he could see what he wanted to achieve but couldn’t get there. That was the case even as late in the season as the Manhattan episode, which aired two weeks ago. Levitski tried to get back to the cooking he used to do at Trio Atelier, the Evanston restaurant where he earned three stars from Tribune restaurant critic Phil Vettel in 2004. But he just couldn’t pull off a complicated dish of chicken cooked two ways and served with two sauces. He was nearly sent home.
Despite the grueling ordeal, he did gain a sense of confidence: “The ability to work through [the challenges] was a huge confidence builder,” he said.
After the intensive filming of the first six weeks, Levitski returned to Chicago knowing he had made the final four and would have three months off before returning to film the final challenges in Aspen. But he didn’t spend his time in the kitchen working on, say, his presentation or his sauces.
“I didn’t cook at all on the break,” he said. “I just kind of figured my challenge was more mental. Practicing anything at this point wasn’t going to help.”
Instead, he regrouped in the embrace of longtime friends, such as Carol Wallack — chef/owner of Sola Restaurant — and others, “great people who helped me launch my career.” He worked front-of-house at Sola and tried to get back to the chef he was during the Trio Atelier days.
“I tried to remember what has made me a good chef in the past,” he said. His seared spiced elk loin with huckleberry sauce and cauliflower and fingerling potatoes was enough to convince the judges in last week’s elimination challenge, which Levitski won.
“If you compare that to the Manhattan one, that was the type of dish I was trying to pull off: complicated, with layered flavors,” he explained.
One thing that kept Levitski in the show — though it looked bad for him in several episodes — was his ability to articulate himself to the judges. Though the critiques were tough, Levitski said he had an advantage after having worked for Henry Adaniya, owner of Trio Atelier. “When you presented a dish to Henry, he would just tear it apart. Every component we would discuss, why it was there.”
With that experience under his belt, Levitski knew to approach the judges’ table prepared with an analysis for his dish. “I stood up for what I did. ‘This is my mistake and this is why.’ I think they respected me for that,” Levitski said.
He listed another factor in his longevity as the judges’ ability to see his progress, citing as an example his steak dish in the “Snacks on a Plane” episode that guest judge Anthony Bourdain called “delicious.”
Levitski is excited not only about the finale, but also to have the announcement of the winner broadcast live here. “Whether I win or get third, to have it in my hometown is incredibly special,” Levitski said.
A victory certainly would boost name recognition for his plans to open a restaurant, which he has been working on with partners. But win or not, the achievement of making the finale is a success in itself, and will likely translate into a career boost. Although Levitski will not yet reveal the name nor its location, he did say it will be an upscale diner west of the Loop serving breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week.
“I don’t think I’m ever gonna sleep again,” he joked.
But before any of that, he will be enjoying one of the prizes he earned from last week’s challenge victory: Guest judge Eric Ripert, chef of Le Bernardin in New York, invited him to the Caymans for a Food & Wine magazine event. He leaves Friday.
“It’s going to be a good week,” he said.
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jxgray@tribune.com
