Came to fix it: "Things flew out of my hands, burned, I threw things in the trash"
It was a joke thrown between friends during the shiva for his mother that led Bar Levy to "MasterChef", and since then he has managed to professionalize in a restaurant and cook at every event he was invited to. Now, the young contestant returns to "MasterChef: Dream Team", and he just wants to learn, develop and reach far: "There are people here who have been cooking for twice my age. I enjoy being the youngest in the room."
When Bar Levy, a contestant in season 11 of MasterChef, was at a major breaking point in his life after his mother's death from cancer, he decided to go to an audition for the show. When she was still alive, they would watch the show together and always talked about food at home, and then, during the shiva, one of the friends said jokingly: "You have a sad story, go to 'MasterChef'." Bar laughed, but then decided to go for it. He finished the season in eighth place, but these days he has returned to MasterChef: Dream Team with the goal of reaching even further (new episode tonight, Thursday, Channel 12).
In an interview with +12, Levy explained the decision to return to the competition: "They offered me, and who am I to give up such a crazy opportunity to be here, to be in this studio again and cook for these crazy judges? It is a privilege and a huge honor for me. As soon as they called me, I said yes, there is no question here, I am not one to say no to a competition."
Are there things he would like to fix from the previous season?
"Sure, mainly that I worked super messy. Everything flew out of my hands, I burned and dropped things, I threw things in the trash even though I wanted to use them. I am now working organized, clean, and do not give in to the mess."
Does he define himself as a competitive person? "I am a very competitive person, obviously. I think it's impossible to be in such an extreme competition without being a competitive person. You have to want to prove yourself, to beat other people, to be the best. You need drive to be on such a stage and do it."
The full interview with Bar Levy is available to watch now on +12.
Levy comes with drive, but according to him, he will not hesitate to help other contestants even if it comes at the expense of his personal success in the competition: "Ultimately, my competition is with myself, I don't feel in competition with others. Every time there is a challenge, and I enter the challenge with the thought 'how do I make the best dish I can'. It doesn't matter what other people do."
Is he afraid of being eliminated first? "No, you can't enter a competition with the thought of what is the worst thing that will happen. I came to win, like I think every person who is in the cast. Either way, I know my food is tasty. 'MasterChef' checks something specific. When you make meals and when you prepare recipes, you have time to think about things. I also came to have fun, you can't give that up."
What has he done since the previous season? "I am a private chef for client events, birthdays, bar mitzvahs, no matter what it is, I am there, I prepare tasty food. I also worked in high-tech, literally writing code on a computer and testing software. Since then I quit and moved to work full-time at the 'Mashya' restaurant."
Also in the previous season in which he participated, and so this time too, Levy is the youngest contestant in the competition. From his point of view, it is a disadvantage that is also an advantage: "It's an advantage because I have no ego, I arrive no matter what happens or comes out. I know I have a lot to learn, a lot to develop. It's a whole world, and people make whole journeys within the culinary arts, especially in Israel where people push as high as possible. It's also a disadvantage because I have less experience than the rest of the contestants. There are people here who have been cooking for twice my age, but I enjoy being the youngest in the room."
How did family and friends react when he told them he was returning to the show? "Everyone laughed. This whole concept started as a joke between my friends, I rolled into this whole story by mistake. It gives me a lot of room to laugh about it, and just enjoy the process and the moment, and my friends are also in it with me."
Is there a contestant who scares him especially? "I'm not afraid, I have respect for the contestants. There are people here with crazy experience, and the food they put out is nothing less than amazing, special, different and creative. But I'm not afraid of that, I bring something else here and know that I prepare tasty food, and the competition is mine with myself, and with the clock."
Interviewer: Noa Barkai
