Attention all you Top Chef fans: Top Chef: The Tour’s semi will pull into Soulard Farmers’ Market on Wed., May 27. You’ll have the chance to see season four winner Stephanie Izard and season three finalist Dale Levitski up close and personal as they cook and field your questions. Levitski took some time out of his schedule to chat with Sauce.
Tell me what people can expect at Top Chef: The Tour. All the chefs are different, so every demo is going to be different based on our personalities and who we’re working with. It’s a nonchalant, easy cooking demonstration that’s a live Q&A at the same time. We’ll make a seasonal dish with ingredients that we’ve bought locally, probably that morning. We make up a dish and explain how and why we’re doing it and have a conversation with the audience. It’s the first time the viewers get to connect with us as individuals.
And what is it about that connection that you enjoy? It makes the whole experience of doing the show and going through the competition, then viewing it, it kind of makes it real.
Give me a snapshot of some of the dishes you’ve made on tour. I did a tour date with Stephanie, the winner from season four, she’s a good friend of mine here in Chicago. We made some ravioli with farmers’ market ingredients in Wisconsin. We got really great, local, organic Wisconsin cheese at a local co-op and then some great local produce and kind of make up a little ravioli dish. We find what’s available within the local markets and find out what the personality of the city is.
So audience members can ask you anything during this demonstration? Oh yeah. If anything, having a conversation with the audience while cooking makes it a much better experience. I don’t want to get up in front of a crowd and just preach how to sear a scallop. I’d much rather have a conversation with them and have it develop from there.
How did being on Top Chef change you as a chef? It made me more confident as a chef. When you’re watching yourself make mistakes with millions of other people, it’s a very humbling experience. When you make stupid mistakes, you’re definitely hung out to dry for it. It brings you down to earth. As a professional, it gives you an objective way to view yourself in a very odd format. It humbles you.
And what’s going on with you professionally? I’m in the process of trying to get a restaurant open in Chicago and … I’m still about a year out on that. Then I have a weekly supper club. Every Thursday I do a three-course dinner at my business partner’s bar, Relax Lounge. All I cook on is a little 2-foot grill and that’s it. It’s fun.
There will be four demos between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Visit www.bravotv.com to reserve your seat at one of the demonstrations.
Photo courtesy of Bravo
This article appears in Apr 1-30, 2009.