‘Top Chef’: Leah and her runny eggs go home

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Better late than never!

Leah, the sour-faced cook from Centro Vinoteca in New York, was finally sent packing after she served undercooked eggs and watery hollandaise to the judges Wednesday night.

Her ousting made me happy -- justice! -- but the challenge itself? Eh. Not all that exciting. It was more a test of conquering their nerves than preparing something transcendent.

The contestants were asked to prepare the last-dish wishes of a sort of Murderers’ Row from the food world. Wylie Dufresne. Lidia Bastianich. Jacques Pepin. Marcus Samuelsson. Susan Ungaro. The intimidation factor was the only real thing the gang had to overcome because their guests asked only for comfort food.

It was good to see an injured Fabio impress with his roast chicken, although he needs to lay off the greens. Apparently, salads aren’t his thing. Don’t make them anymore, Fabio! Stefan took a bit of a hit for overcooking his salmon, which was surprising, but my money’s still on him to win. Hosea again turned in merely satisfactory shrimp, but again, I have a feeling it’ll be a Stefan-Hosea showdown in the finals. And Carla, she is indeed the dark horse going into the Final Four. Who knows what she’ll whip up?

But if I’m being honest, I’m a little underwhelmed with the finalists. Stefan has no competition.

The real shocker would be to watch the judges give the ‘Top Chef’ title to anyone but Stefan while keeping a straight face.

-- Denise Martin