DISHES ON DISNEY
You may know him from Top Chef season three or the show’s All
Stars edition, but Dale Levitski is much more than a made- for- TV cook. The accomplished restaurateur sharpened his knives in Chicago ( where he had two restaurants of his own) before moving to Nashville in 2014 to take the helm of Sinema, an eclectic restaurant and bar housed in a historic former theater. Since then Levitski has opened a casual restaurant in Nashville called The Hook and partnered with Parade and cheeky YouTube channel Cinema Sins on a series of videos featuring Disney- inspired dishes ( see them at
Parade. com/ dale). He chats with Parade about life after Top Chef and turning animated films into fine dining.
How did this Disney menu come about?
It’s something that I’ve had on my mind for almost 10 years. The guys at Cinema Sins had come to us about creating a cooking version of their show and I thought, Let’s do Disney!
There’s so much to work with from the Disney vault, how did you narrow it down?
We just ran with it. We’re not making cartoon food: We’re making great food. The three dishes that we did— Down the Rabbit Hole from Alice in Wonderland, Hakuna Frittata from The Lion King and Seaweed Surf and Turf from The Little Mermaid—
turned out pretty spectacular.
Were there any ideas that didn’t make the menu?
We talked about a bunch: Redoing spaghetti and meatballs with Lady and the Tramp— it’s one long noodle and one meatball and you just battle it out!
What’s the next step for your Disney- inspired dishes?
The Disney Dinner at Sinema. We are going to use the three dishes and come up with two or three more. If that’s successful, we could do a movie- inspired dinner monthly or quarterly, called Dinner of a Movie. We could do a dinner inspired by
Casablanca and people dress up— it’s just too perfect with what we are [ an upscale restaurant in an old cinema].
How did Top Chef change your life and career?
Our first night in Miami, one of the executive producers was like, “Your life is about to change— today.” And you’re like, “Oh yeah I can handle it, this is great.” But you have no idea. The day after the premiere, I was flying back to Chicago from New York and the people in line at TSA were like, “Hey, Dale, what’s up?” Being wellknown does skew a lot of things personally and professionally. I don’t want to say it opened doors, but it helped make opportunities easier because [ people] know who you are. They know your palate or your skill set. “You got second place on Top Chef; I trust you already.”
Do you cook at home?
No! [ Laughs] I moved out of an apartment and rented a house, and I was like, “Fresh start! I’m going to get rid of everything!” After a year, I still don’t have glasses or dishes. I’m a master of eating pasta out of a pot. The copper- plated KitchenAid mixer, the Cuisinart— I have all the equipment in my house just collecting dust. They’re mocking me.