The celebrity chef tells PEOPLE, “She was the culinary matriarch of my family, and I feel like I hold that torch now"
Credit: Amanda Rodriguez; Vina Sananikone
NEED TO KNOW
- Carla Hall is opening Bumblebirds, a fried chicken and cocktail bar, in Washington, D.C., on March 16
- The menu includes crispy fried chicken sandwiches served on buttery brioche buns, a pimento cheese board, biscuits and an iced tea and lemonade bar
- Hall is also debuting a one-woman show, Carla Hall — Please Underestimate Me, at Maryland’s Olney Theatre Center this June
Carla Hall’s latest project is all about Southern joy.
The celebrity chef is opening bumblebirds, a fried chicken and cocktail bar in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C. on Monday, March 16.
The pop-in restaurant’s menu includes crispy fried chicken sandwiches served on buttery brioche buns, a pimento cheese board, biscuits, an iced tea and lemonade bar, and other flavorful items. Drinks include the signature bumblebird and the elderflower julep.
The fast-casual eatery, which features recipes inspired by Hall’s own grandmother, is meant to be a love letter to the South and to D.C — and the Top Chef alum tells PEOPLE she wants to share that hospitality with visitors.
“I want them to walk in and feel like, ‘Wow, this feels like home and it feels bright and warm. And I feel like this is a place where I want to hang out. I feel like it's a place where I feel a sense of community and joy,” she says. “I think more than anything, I want people to feel the joy.”
Credit: Vina Sananikone
The familial theme also extends to the space’s decor, which includes a custom mural and handcrafted paper yo-yo quilts made by Hall herself.
“I thought I had lost my grandmother's quilt after 20 years,” she recalls. “It was lost for 20 years, and I found it in 2021. And before I found it, I had decided to recreate it with paper.”
The experience inspired Hall to create a 9-by-3-foot art installation.
“It's more than just showcasing a piece of art; it's about showing other sides of my creativity,” she explains. “And also quilts are about community and bringing people together.”
Hall, 61, says displaying the piece at the restaurant feels like carrying her grandmother with her.
Credit: Aviva Goldfarb
“She was the culinary matriarch of my family, and I feel like I hold that torch now,” she says. “So whenever I can make something or do something, and it reminds her of my grandmother, it is like I'm connecting to her spirit.”
To launch the new venture, Hall partnered with Sunnyside Restaurant Group, a family-run company led by Cathy, Harvey, Micheline and Spike Mendelsohn. Hall first met Spike on Top Chef: All Stars, which premiered in 2010, and the two D.C. chefs have remained close in the years since.
Bumblebirds isn’t the only personal project the former co-host of The Chew has in the works. She’s set to star in Carla Hall — Please Underestimate Me, a one-woman show premiering this June.
“I wanted to do theater as a kid,” she says. “When I was 12, I wanted to be the Black Carol Burnett.”
Credit: Amanda Rodriguez
Hall says when she turned 55, she began thinking about what she could bring to the stage.
“I talked to my agent, I said, ‘I want to do whatever cameos are available. I would love to do voiceovers,’” recalls Hall, noting that she got an acting coach. ”I mean, The Chew had ended and I really wanted to do a variety show. And it just kept developing, developing, developing.”
When Hall mentioned she was writing a show in a February 2024 New York Times profile, Maryland’s Olney Theatre Center reached out inviting her to participate in a workshop, later adding her show to its 2025-2026 season.
“I really want people to walk away feeling like there are ways that I move in my life and principles that I follow,” she says. “And I accept the highs and lows of my life. And so I'm hoping that they will leave and they're like, ‘Oh, I can do something like this. I can do something hard and I can be a career changer.’”
She says fans can also expect some surprises.
“I think there's some things that people know, there are a lot of things in my life that they don't know,” she says. “I'm very transparent about talking about things that happened in my life that didn't go well, but also really looking back and seeing the lessons.”
Three months before the show’s premiere, Hall admits she’s “nervous.”
“I'm like, ‘Oh my gosh, it's here.’ I have to remember all the words,” she says. “And what can I say? I'm menopausal. I can't even remember names of fruits sometimes in the grocery store, but here we are.”
Read the full article here
