Carla first won over audiences when she competed on Bravo’s “Top Chef” and “Top Chef: All Stars” and shared her philosophy to always cook with love.  Since then she has co-hosted ABC’s Emmy award winning, popular lifestyle series “The Chew”, she brightens the mornings of millions as a Culinary Contributor to “Good Morning America”, and in 2020 she will be featured as a judge on Crazy Delicious (Netflix) and on BakeAway Camp (Food Network) as well as numerous other shows and specials throughout the year.  Her latest cookbook, Carla Hall’s Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration, was published in 2018, landing on annual “Best Cookbook” lists across the country and receiving an NAACP Image Awards nomination. 

Carla believes food connects us all, and she strives to communicate this through her work, her cooking, and in her daily interactions with others.

Born in Nashville, TN, Carla grew up surrounded by soul food. When the time came for her to select her career path, she first 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 to work as a runway model. It was during that time, as she traveled (and ate) her way through Europe for a few years, that she truly realized her deep-rooted passion for food could be her career path. 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.

She has two previous cookbooks – Carla’s Comfort Food: Favorite Dishes from Around the World and Cooking with Love: Comfort Food That Hugs You.  

Related: My Appearance on The Chew 

Carla is very active with a number of charities and not-for-profit organizations that reflect her passion for causes close to her heart. Such organizations 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 and the Pajama Program, which works to promote and support a comforting bedtime routine to help all children thrive by providing cozy pajamas, inspiring storybooks, and critical resources for caregivers.

Carla lives in D.C. with her husband, Matthew Lyons.

This is the person that introduced me to Chef Carla Hall my sister Chef Alycia Nicole of Foodie Engineer