Top Chef's Amanda: "I Was Definitely an Underdog"

With six chefs left on this week's Top Chef, Padma & Co.decided to take a trip to Washington, D.C.'s Nationals Park. But instead of enjoying a ball game, the cheftestants were left to man the concession stand for a stadium filled with hungry fans.

Top Chef's Alex: I didn't steal Ed's pea puree

While the judges thought Tiffany's and Ed's concession creations were home runs, they found some serious flaws in the others' dishes — especially Amanda Baumgarten's oxidized tuna tartare. Find out what the Los Angeles native had to say about choosing a raw fish dish for the ballpark challenge and what was the hardest part of her experience.

TVGuide.com: What did you think of the judges' decision?
Amanda: The thing is it's a game. It's just a big, drawn-out game show, and someone goes home, and I went home. I tried not to overthink it, and because of that reason, I've been able to maintain a sense of sanity. I try not to dissect the judging.

TVGuide.com: Do you think you deserved to go?
Amanda: I think that decision isn't up to me, which is really great.

TVGuide.com: What would you have done differently?
Amanda: Nothing. I mean, maybe I would have tartare-d the tuna the day of, but maybe I wouldn't have

TVGuide.com: Well, did you know it would oxidize?
Amanda: I knew there was a possibility of that happening, but I also didn't know if I was going to be able to tartare it there. I didn't know what the set-up was going to be.

TVGuide.com: So why did you opt to make tuna tartare?
Amanda: I honestly don't know. At that point, I was really, really tired, and the thing is, I didn't have a good idea of what I wanted to do. I was just beat.

TVGuide.com: What was the hardest part of the experience?
Amanda: It's just every day, going around, racing, pushing. I think, towards the end, I was running out of gas. I fought really hard to stay there as long as I did. I didn't get lucky; I fought for it. I was definitely an underdog towards the end.

TVGuide.com: And just to put some closure on the pea puree drama, Alex said last week that you can vouch for him. Can you?
Amanda: Yeah, I've told everyone so far that he made it next to me. He didn't steal it.