Pack your knives

“We can serve monkey ass in empty clam shell; we gonna win this one …”—Fabio

Ah, Fabio. You do have a way with words. And, it seems, a bit of a prophetic streak.

This week's Restaurant Wars, as always, came down to leadership and confidence. (And also some werid magic tricks, courtesy of Jeff. But I digress.) Radhika couldn't muster much of either. Her first mistake was not putting Jeff—a good-looking, smooth-talking guy who freely admits he’s very concerned with image—out to work the front of the house. Instead, she took on a role that was clearly uncomfortable for her and appeared nervous and unfocused the whole time. In a word: painful. I mean, can someone please get Tom a fork?

At the judge’s table, it almost seemed like Radhika wanted to go home. She hasn't been good at standing up for herself all season, but for some reason we kept thinking (hoping?) that would change. No such luck. Note to remaining contestants: “I’m not sure,” is never the right answer. Just make something up. It doesn’t even have to make sense. (Hey, it’s working for Toby Young.)

While it was clear that this was Radhika’s time to go, she made a good showing. A finish in the top half, even in what’s turning out to be a ho-hum season, is impressive. If she works on building her confidence and starts listening to critiques of her food, whether she likes them or not (and then uses them to her advantage—that's what they're there for, after all), we definitely haven’t seen the last of her.

Radhika's departure means this is first time since Season 2 that Chicago won’t be represented in the finale. Based on this week's showings, here’s who we think will make it instead:

Hosea: He’ll be there. He just might not have a girlfriend back home to watch it with.

Jamie: She’s the only one who can give Stefan a run … probably with something that involves scallops. And possibly corn.

Stefan: Unless those scallops really blow someone’s mind, this might be a foregone conclusion.

-- M. Kathleen Pratt