Carla Hall’s Got Work to Do Before Exporting Troubled Southern Kitchen to D.C.

First-time restaurateur Carla Hall is re-evaluating the expansion plans she originally had for hot chicken-slinging Southern Kitchen, alerting Eater that shipping the struggling endeavor — the flagship location recently closed for the second time since debuting in Brooklyn last summer — to the District remains a priority.

“It is still my plan to eventually open a Southern Kitchen in D.C., but after spending the first year learning the restaurant business, it's going to take much longer than I ever anticipated,” the celebrity chef said in an email, stressing, “The temporary closing of our Brooklyn location has nothing to do with that time frame.”

That long view echoes the cautious attitude the Top Chef alum expressed last September, when she proposed further growing her brand in the Empire State before branching out into other parts of the country.

“Each city has its different and unique challenges in starting a business and opening a restaurant, so I have learned that it's best to focus on one city at a time … right now that's NY,” she said.

Hall did not elaborate on previous reports that she has her eye on H Street NE and Anacostia as potential landing spots in the nation’s capital.