Carla Hall Launches Kickstarter To Open Her First Restaurant

After years of staying out of the restaurant ownership business, model-turned-chef/TV host, Carla Hall, is opening up a restaurant. The Chew host has started a Kickstarter for Carla Hall's Southern Kitchen, a southern comfort, Tennessee-style hot chicken restaurant that will be opening in New York sometime in 2015. This fast-casual eatery will be, according to the Kickstarter, a "neighborhood eatery serving up old-fashioned southern goodness." Hall is seeking $250,000 for her restaurant venture.

The flagship restaurant, when it opens in spring 2015, will have the potential for expansion into a chain of hot chicken restaurants. The concept is all hot chicken, all the time, with a variety of Southern comfort favorites as sides (collard greens, and mac andcheese, we presume). It sounds to us like the Chipotle version of Tennessee hot chicken. Tennessee-style hot chicken, in case you're unfamiliar, is a Cajun twist on the traditional fried chicken that's brushed with a spicy cayenne paste. At Carla's eatery you'll be able to customize your heat level from sweet all the way up to "damn hot."

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Joanna Fantozzi is an Associate Editor with The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter@JoannaFantozzi