In Wednesday night's double elimination, Top Chef judges sent home the kind, but competitive Dakota Weiss. Although she never stole the spotlight, her dishes always shined making her elimination even more upsetting. Off all the horrible dishes served that night, her dish was far from the worst. Despite an unfair elimination, she managed to stay positive about it. Check out Ology's interview with the eliminated chef below.
Top Chef airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on Bravo.
It was very upsetting to see you get eliminated from Top Chef. Do you think the judges made a fair decision?
Absolutely. You never want to admit your shortcomings, but I completely undercooked the venison. I mean before judges table, as far as I knew, everyone cooked their dish perfectly. We didn't really put together any mistakes that happened. But when we got to judges table and finally heard all the unfortunate things that went on with other dishes I thought, "well maybe we have a chance." It seemed there were a lot of components the judges didn't like about the elk or the duck, but ultimately someone couldn't even eat our dish because it wasn't cooked enough. It was about the game, so I think they made a fair decision.
You seemed to feel bad about being "the reason" that Nyesha went home. Why did you feel so guilty?
Guilt is just my natural reaction because I put a lot of pressure on myself. I definitely felt guilty, because I was in charge of the meat. It was a team challenge though, so we were both a part of it from the get-go. But in that moment at judges table I felt so much stress and I just let it all out.
In addition to that, you and your fellow chefs had to decide who to send to Judges Table. How did that make you feel?
Well it definitely added some pressure to the competition, but I kind of liked it. It's very rare to get that many chefs to sit down, eat each other's food, and talk about it. I mean it sucked having to choose "losers," but at the same time people made a lot of compliments. It made us all be upfront and honest with each other.
Unfortunately the biggest part of last night's episode was the battle between Beverly and Heather. What were you thinking when that played out?
Oh gosh that was so uncomfortable. I think even the judges felt awkward when that happened. It went on and on. We just want to know what happened in the kitchen. We should push personalities aside and just focus on the food. At this point it's like get over it all ready. I'm done with this conversation. There's no point for it right now. You guys cooked your food, it's done, and it's out. Just move on. I actually don't want to hear the word shrimp ever again in my life.
Haha. I don't blame you. So even though you have a chance to come back on "Last Chef Standing," is there anyone you're rooting for?
It's so hard to pick one person, because everyone is so awesome and talented. I mean Beverly is amazing. Chris Carey is so sweet and so funny. Edward is one of the funniest people I've ever met. Paul is incredibly talented. Everyone is so awesome so I won't be disappointed.
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Do you think Dakota deserved to be eliminated?
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