Last week, we introduced you to Leah Cohen—the disappointingly even-keeled contestant from Centro Vinoteca (couldn’t she be as crazy as she is hot?) and one of three New Yorkers in the running for TCV victory. Now, meet Patrick Dunlea (pictured), a sweet-faced CIA student and founding member of Team Rainbow who has a yen for Gabrielle Hamilton and wants to be your student body president. Read the interview, after the jump.

Do you think being from New York helped you perform better on the show?
I was at least more familiar with the city and the surroundings. So I don’t know if it was necessarily a home-court advantage, but it was a little comforting knowing where I was.

What are some of your other advantages?
I’m young, I’ve got energy. I’m still at school so I’m surrounded every day by hundreds of other creative students, so it’s really a melting pot of recipes and new techniques and ideas. Outside of the kitchen I’m a really dedicated person. I take a very active leadership role in everything I do. I was student government president on campus.

Who’s in your corner?
Well, definitely every student at the CIA, and a lot of my friends in my hometown of Quincy, Massachusetts, and Boston. I’ve probably got all of the younger culinary students behind me.

What kind of cooking experience did you have before you went to school?
My biggest break with culinary arts was back in Boston—I did a culinary scholarship competition with this organization called Future Chefs. It was a scholarship program—culinary tests just like this—and that gave me the scholarship to the CIA and was really how I was able to afford to go to school.

Do you look up to any local chefs?
I’ve been hearing a lot about the chef at Fatty Crab. And I really like Gabrielle Hamilton—she’s the chef at Prune. She writes a lot for magazines, and she’s just really cool. She doesn’t like “foo-foo” things, she’s just like, “I’m a cook.” She doesn’t even call herself a chef sometimes. She’s really kind of straightforward and does her own stuff.

Any dish on the judges?
Well, Gail surprised me. I was a little intimidated because she seems like the tough person who there’s no messing around with—and she was a sweetheart!

Did you ever get a chance to sample any of the food in Williamsburg?
Um, we could smell it! But we stuck to cooking for ourselves most of the time.

Can you shed some light on Team Rainbow?
It wasn’t necessarily an alliance, it was just support for Jamie, Richard and me. We were the gays of the group, so the first night we found each other and after a couple bottles of wine decided that we were “Team Rainbow.”

Any plans for after you graduate?
I absolutely want to travel. I went on a trip recently to Spain and I am itchin’ to go back as soon as I can.—Zachary Feldman