Catching up with Carla Hall

Carla Hall burst onto the scene with her run to the finale on season 5 of Bravo’s Top Chef. Since then, Hall has kept busy with a variety of projects, on television and off, including a stint on The Chew. Next up for the busy chef? A new show on Max: Chasing Flavor, which the NYT’s Kim Severson says is the first time Hall is “not the wacky sidekick but instead the authoritative star and executive producer.”

In an interview with the effervescent chef, Severson notes that not all of Hall’s ventures post-Top Chef have been wildly successful. Her Brooklyn, NY restaurant flopped and The Chew ended abruptly, following a decline in ratings and Mario Batali’s departure from the show due to allegations of sexual assault. However, Hall is nothing if not tenacious, and each time she faced an obstacle she found a way around or over it. Her route to become a chef was less than straightforward as well – after graduating from college briefly worked for as an accountant for PricewaterhouseCooper’s Tampa office.

Hall has written or co-written several cookbooks, including Carla Hall’s Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration, which enjoys a high rating by EYB Members. In her new show Chasing Flavor, Hall travels to different countries, tracing the unusual history of iconic foods such as tacos al pastor and ice cream. The six-episode series is available to stream now for Max subscribers.