Carla Hall, the Howard accounting major turned model, turned chef, took a summer off from her Silver Spring catering company to compete as one of 17 cheftestants on season 5 of Bravo’s popular Top Chef. Hall has made D.C. proud, cooking her way into the final three.
On the eve of part two of the season finale, Hall dished with us about her rising star, what a Top Chef season in D.C. might look like, and her perfect world.
The final episode will air, with either Carla or competitors Hosea or Stefan being named Top Chef, tonight on Bravo at 10 p.m. (re-airing at 11, 12, 1, and several times this week). And if you need to catch up, the season marathon starts today at 10 a.m.
You’ve gone from caterer to reality TV star with millions of people watching/talking/writing/rooting for you over the last year. Now tomorrow’s the final. Is it surreal to be where you are?
It is surreal. It’s humbling to have people send me emails and say that I inspired them for saying something or doing something, and it’s just me. It’s kind of like, “Ah, but you know, I’m just Carla.” And they’ll say, “Oh my God, a celebrity!” I’m like “No, I’m just Carla.” It’s a little surreal.
Tom Colicchio said that he didn’t think you’d make it half way though the competition, but you grew stronger and stronger and made very good dishes along the way. After a shaky start, you really seemed to get on a roll as the contest went on.
I don’t blame Tom. I read some of the blogs and they say “Oh gosh, you should get kicked off.” And quite frankly, it wasn’t that I disagreed with them. I was never delusional about a bad dish that I put forward. I was always probably my hardest critic on any dish that I put forward that I wouldn’t be proud of. I think a lot of times I was mostly concerned about the taste and unfortunately when you’re watching a show, you’re thinking visually and about what it sounds like, but have no idea what it tastes like. Until we get scratch and sniff you have to believe the judges.
And I think it got to the point where I was at the bottom for “restaurant wars” and I thought I was going home and I didn’t. Once you survive that, you feel like you’ve hit the bottom and the only place you can go is up. It’s like, “You know what? I have nothing to lose. I already thought I was gonna go home.” You get that out of the way and you’re not as scared. That fear of failing actually prevents you from doing really well. And I think once that fear goes away you’re free to do your food. And I think that’s what happened to me.
