Trenchermen's Rebecca LaMalfa Cut from Top Chef Boston

Four episodes in to season 12 of Top Chef (in Boston), the lone Chicagoan, Trenchermen executive sous chef Rebeca LaMalfa, is out.

For the elimination challenge, held at Michael Schlow's Italian restaurant Via Matta, four groups of three chef'testants were tasked with creating a three-course menu and whichever team had the most menu orders won the challenge. Everyone else was up for elimination based on the quality of their dishes. LaMalfa's team came close, but close was not good enough. Judges found her seared scallop to be over salted, and the charred fennel lacking in char. Top Chef judge Richard Blais called the dish "mediocre room service."

But there's still a chance that she can win a place back into the competition when the internet part of the show, Last Chance Kitchen, begins in December. However, it's a long, hard climb back to the top this early on. See LaMalfa's exit interview with Blais here.