Chef, best-selling author and television personality Carla Hall has been entertaining audiences with her enthusiasm for life and warm personality for years. She initially won over audiences when she shared her philosophy to always cook with love while competing on Bravo’s “Top Chef” and “Top Chef: All Stars.” She hosted the award-winning daytime program “The Chew” for many years, engaging with audiences on an authentic level that brought her loyal and passionate fans. Carla strives to communicate her belief that food connects us all through her cooking, work, and in her daily interactions with others. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Carla grew up surrounded by soul food. When choosing her career, she originally opted for a business route. She graduated from Howard University's Business School and worked as an accountant for two years before deciding to switch gears and work as a runway model. During that time, as Carla traveled (and ate) her way through Europe for a few years, she truly realized her deep-rooted passion for food could be her career path. Carla received a Culinary Career Training certificate from L'Academie de Cuisine in Bethesda, Maryland. Today, she is a trained chef who has worked in several professional restaurant kitchens in and around the Washington, D.C. area and is an accomplished television personality and author. As an author, Carla combined her loves of food, people, and culture to write several cookbooks. Her latest cookbook, “Carla Hall’s Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration,” was published last fall. She has two previous cookbooks, “Carla’s Comfort Food: Favorite Dishes from Around the World” and “Cooking with Love: Comfort Food That Hugs You.” In all her cookbooks, Carla emphasizes the importance of using the freshest ingredients possible, incorporating traditional and modern techniques and cooking with love to carry on beloved family recipes. Carla is active with many charities and nonprofit organizations that reflect her passion for causes close to her heart. These include Helen Keller International, an organization that works to improve the lives of those with blindness, and to prevent the causes and consequences of blindness, poor health, and malnutrition. She is also the culinary ambassador for Sweet Home Cafe at the Smithsonian National Museum for African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. where she brings attention to the history of the food that has inspired the café. Carla lives in D.C. with her husband, Matthew Lyons.
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