Before I begin, a side note on last week's outcome: I want viewers and blog readers to be clear that we did not eliminate Michael because of the olive pit left on our table.

Neither Tom nor I ever claimed that as our reason. I am grateful to hear and interested in hearing all your thoughts on the show and would never want to mislead you on how each choice is made, more than the already extensive editing of each episode. True, we were disappointed that he did not think enough to use his leftover money to buy plates for the olive pits and bread, but we chose to eliminate him because we felt he did not contribute anything substantial to the teamwork, restaurant concept, or challenge as a whole, in comparison to everyone else. He is a decent cook, but proved in this challenge that he was just not ready to be a chef.