Are you ready, "Top Chef" fans? It's almost time to settle in on the couch with a bowl of popcorn (we'll take ours with white truffle oil and a nice, buttery chardonnay, if you don't mind) and let the slicing and dicing begin. Season 3 kicks off at 9 p.m. on Bravo.

Though we'll miss some of our favorite Season 2 personalities (especially Elroy Jetson, er, we mean Marcel), we're excited to finally see some local representation on the show-namely, Dale Levitski, the 34-year-old hot shot who's worked in more Chicago kitchens than we can count. Word is, Dale makes his mark in the first episode ... we're just not sure if that's a good thing or not.

While you're waiting for 9 p.m. to roll around, we've got two questions for you:

1. Have you read our interview with Dale yet? If not, what are you waiting for? He dishes on everything from taste-testing Season 2 champ Ilan's food to proving himself in the "Top Chef" kitchen.

2. Mohawk, faux hawk, no hawk? Discuss.

Be sure to check back after the show for a recap and some lively discussion of the episode. We'll be blogging-and keeping close tabs on Dale's kitchen capers-every week this season.

  The spot: Medici doesn't always win raves for its service, but that's not why we come here: Rare is the BYOB spot that offers both decent get-your-drink-on type food-pizza, sandwiches and burgers-and near-perfect outdoor seating. Grab a table on the spacious upstairs deck and order the popular thin-crust or pan pizzas. Sure, you can get all healthy with a spinach-and-goat cheese pie ($7.95-$21.95), but when you see a pizza with a name like The Garbage (sausage, ground beef, pepperoni, Canadian bacon, peppers and mushrooms, $9.25-$25.95), you just have to give it a try. Seeking a sandwich? Try the grilled portabella with ginger-sesame mayonnaise ($7.50) or the house burger ($7.25) atop a homemade potato bun.

The bottle: The combination of pizza and summer temperatures makes a light Italian red like Coltibuono's sangiovese ($10) a good pick, says Russ Peters, a manager at nearby Binny's Express. If it's really a scorcher, though, chill with a bottle of Tiefenbrunner pinot grigio ($13.99), a citrusy, stainless steel-fermented white. -- Allison Knab, metromix special contributor

Not sure if anyone's been back to Il Covo in a while, but it quietly changed ownership at the end of May. New owners include Carol Johnson, Nino Coronas, Domenico Fronteddu and Giovanni Carzedda, who are promising to bring the restaurant back to it its solidly Italian roots. "Things were getting too esoteric," says Johnson. "It was getting further and further way from a neighborhood place." Giovanni and Nino have resumes that include Trattoria D.O.C. and Pizza D.O.C. (which, by the way, quietly parted ways from each other last week), and will be adding the flavors of Sardinia to the Italian  menu (think Mediterranean seafood).

We're intrigued! Has anyone been yet? Can you give us a report?