Carla Hall
Encyclopedia
Carla Hall is an American
chef residing in Washington, D.C.
She was a finalist in the fifth
and eighth
seasons of Top Chef
, Bravo's cooking competition show. On April 14, 2011, it was announced that Hall will be one of 5 cohosts on The Chew, a one-hour live show centered on food from all angles. The show premiered in September on ABC, replacing "All My Children
".
. She graduated from Howard University
's Business School with a degree in accounting in 1986. After working for two years at Price Waterhouse and obtaining a CPA
certificate, she shifted focus and spent several years working as a model in the runways of Paris
, Milan
and London
. It was in the first of these three cities that she quickly fell in love with the art of food.
, graduating with a Culinary Career Training certificate. From here, she went on to serve an internship at the Henley Park Hotel
in 1996, where she was then promoted to sous chef. In the following years, she worked as the executive chef
at the State Plaza, a sister hotel, and the Washington Club, a private social club. Then, in 2001, Hall started her own catering company, Alchemy Caterers, based in Silver Spring, Maryland
.
tickets for her victory. This win gave her the momentum she needed to push to the end, as after this, she won two more challenges and was in the top for several others. Most notably, she greatly impressed Jacques Pépin
, who said he could "die happy" after eating her fresh peas, and Emeril Lagasse
, who said he loved her gumbo. However, in the final challenge in New Orleans, she, as well as Stefan Richter
, ended as runner-ups, losing to Hosea Rosenberg
.
On the show, Carla gained popularity for her personality, although she did not win Fan Favorite in her season. She became known for her call-and-response catch phrase "Hootie Hoo!", a tradition she and her husband had whenever trying to locate one another in public. Hall also became known on Top Chef for her philosophy of "cooking with love", which she defined as putting one's own care and warmth into food. She believes that if one is happy and calm while cooking, then this will show in the food, making it much better, whereas if one feels otherwise, it will degrade their cuisine. For this reason, she says that, “If you’re not in a good mood, the only thing you should make is a reservation."
During the season seven finale of Top Chef, Carla was announced as part of the cast of Top Chef: All-Stars
, the eighth season of the show which would consist of participants from past seasons. Throughout this season, she performed much stronger and more competitively-at one point leading the competition in number of Elimination wins-and making it again into the Finals. Most notably, she won the chance to demonstrate her recipe for Chicken Pot Pie on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
. However, she was eliminated in the first round of the Finals, after being plagued with equipment difficulties in both of her challenges. In her exit interview, she said, "The judges made the right decision. I didn't have a winning dish." She would appear twice more in the Finals, once as part of a Quickfire challenge and again as a sous-chef for season runner-up Mike Isabella. Finishing fifth overall in the competition, Carla was awarded "Fan Favorite" for the season by viewers of the show, beating out Season 5 fan favorite Fabio Viviani
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
chef residing in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
She was a finalist in the fifth
Top Chef (season 5)
Top Chef: New York is the fifth season of American reality television series Top Chef and was filmed first in New York City, New York, and concluded in New Orleans, Louisiana...
and eighth
Top Chef (season 8)
Top Chef: All-Stars is the eighth season of American reality television series Top Chef and was filmed first in New York City, New York and concluded in The Bahamas. This season consists of chefs from the previous 7 seasons who did not win the Title of Top Chef. The season premiered on December 1,...
seasons of Top Chef
Top Chef
Top Chef is an American reality competition show that airs on the cable television network Bravo, in which chefs compete against each other in culinary challenges. They are judged by a panel of professional chefs and other notables from the food and wine industry with one or more contestants...
, Bravo's cooking competition show. On April 14, 2011, it was announced that Hall will be one of 5 cohosts on The Chew, a one-hour live show centered on food from all angles. The show premiered in September on ABC, replacing "All My Children
All My Children
All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...
".
Early life and education
Hall was born and raised in Nashville, TennesseeNashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
. She graduated from Howard University
Howard University
Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
's Business School with a degree in accounting in 1986. After working for two years at Price Waterhouse and obtaining a CPA
Certified Public Accountant
Certified Public Accountant is the statutory title of qualified accountants in the United States who have passed the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination and have met additional state education and experience requirements for certification as a CPA...
certificate, she shifted focus and spent several years working as a model in the runways of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. It was in the first of these three cities that she quickly fell in love with the art of food.
Career prior to Top Chef
Upon returning to the United States, Carla moved to Washington, where she started a lunch delivery service called the Lunch Bunch. After working there for four years, she enrolled in L'Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg, MarylandGaithersburg, Maryland
Gaithersburg is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. The city had a population of 59,933 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth largest incorporated city in the state, behind Baltimore, Frederick, and Rockville...
, graduating with a Culinary Career Training certificate. From here, she went on to serve an internship at the Henley Park Hotel
Henley Park Hotel
The Henley Park Hotel is a 96 room boutique style hotel located on 10th street and Massachusetts Avenue NW in Washington, DC. It features an upscale restaurant, Couer De Lion, and is noted for its unique architecture. It is a Historic Hotel of America....
in 1996, where she was then promoted to sous chef. In the following years, she worked as the executive chef
Chef
A chef is a person who cooks professionally for other people. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who cooks for a living, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation.-Etymology:The word "chef" is borrowed ...
at the State Plaza, a sister hotel, and the Washington Club, a private social club. Then, in 2001, Hall started her own catering company, Alchemy Caterers, based in Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It had a population of 71,452 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth most populous place in Maryland, after Baltimore, Columbia, and Germantown.The urbanized, oldest, and...
.
Top Chef
Hall's big break came in 2008, when she was selected to be a contestant on the fifth season of Top Chef. In the initial half of the show, she was in the middle in most episodes, but was in the top in the Thanksgiving challenge. After Episode 10, she wowed the judges with her crawfish gumbo, going on to win Super Bowl XLIIISuper Bowl XLIII
Super Bowl XLIII was an American football game pitting the American Football Conference champion Pittsburgh Steelers against the National Football Conference champion Arizona Cardinals to decide the National Football League champion for the 2008 season. The game was played on February 1, 2009,...
tickets for her victory. This win gave her the momentum she needed to push to the end, as after this, she won two more challenges and was in the top for several others. Most notably, she greatly impressed Jacques Pépin
Jacques Pépin
Jacques Pépin is an internationally recognized French chef, television personality, and author working in the United States. Born in Bourg-en-Bresse, Lyon in France, Pepin was raised by a father and mother who jointly owned a restaurant, where he later credited the start of his love for food. He...
, who said he could "die happy" after eating her fresh peas, and Emeril Lagasse
Emeril Lagasse
'Emeril John Lagasse is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, television personality, and cookbook author. A regional James Beard Award winner, he is perhaps most notable for his Food Network shows Emeril Live and Essence of Emeril as well as catchphrases such as “Kick it up a notch!” and...
, who said he loved her gumbo. However, in the final challenge in New Orleans, she, as well as Stefan Richter
Stefan Richter
Stefan Richter is a Finnish-American chef residing in Santa Monica, California. He was a runner-up in the fifth season of Top Chef, Bravo's cooking competition show.-Background:...
, ended as runner-ups, losing to Hosea Rosenberg
Hosea Rosenberg
Hosea Rosenberg is an American chef residing in Boulder, Colorado. He was the winner of the fifth season of Top Chef, Bravo's cooking competition show....
.
On the show, Carla gained popularity for her personality, although she did not win Fan Favorite in her season. She became known for her call-and-response catch phrase "Hootie Hoo!", a tradition she and her husband had whenever trying to locate one another in public. Hall also became known on Top Chef for her philosophy of "cooking with love", which she defined as putting one's own care and warmth into food. She believes that if one is happy and calm while cooking, then this will show in the food, making it much better, whereas if one feels otherwise, it will degrade their cuisine. For this reason, she says that, “If you’re not in a good mood, the only thing you should make is a reservation."
During the season seven finale of Top Chef, Carla was announced as part of the cast of Top Chef: All-Stars
Top Chef (season 8)
Top Chef: All-Stars is the eighth season of American reality television series Top Chef and was filmed first in New York City, New York and concluded in The Bahamas. This season consists of chefs from the previous 7 seasons who did not win the Title of Top Chef. The season premiered on December 1,...
, the eighth season of the show which would consist of participants from past seasons. Throughout this season, she performed much stronger and more competitively-at one point leading the competition in number of Elimination wins-and making it again into the Finals. Most notably, she won the chance to demonstrate her recipe for Chicken Pot Pie on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon on NBC. The show premiered on March 2, 2009, as the third incarnation of the Late Night franchise originated by David Letterman....
. However, she was eliminated in the first round of the Finals, after being plagued with equipment difficulties in both of her challenges. In her exit interview, she said, "The judges made the right decision. I didn't have a winning dish." She would appear twice more in the Finals, once as part of a Quickfire challenge and again as a sous-chef for season runner-up Mike Isabella. Finishing fifth overall in the competition, Carla was awarded "Fan Favorite" for the season by viewers of the show, beating out Season 5 fan favorite Fabio Viviani
Fabio Viviani (chef)
Fabio Viviani is an Italian chef, and naturalized U.S. citizen. Viviani appeared on reality TV show Top Chef on Bravo during its fifth season. He was one of the final four contestants when he was eliminated from the competition and was voted "Top Chef Fan Favorite" by viewers...
.