Chef Carla Hall’s new dining room features colorful textiles she made herself. | Jonathan Pushnik It was almost a decade ago to the date when TV star Carla Hall debuted Southern Kitchen in Brooklyn to much anticipation. A year later, that promising fast-casual had closed for good in NYC .  Now it’s the nation’s capital’s turn to taste the crispy fried chicken and Southern fare she’s known for. Color-soaked Bumblebirds opens on Capitol Hill on Saturday, March 14, in the former Good Stuff Eatery (303 Pennsylvania Avenue SE). The poultry haven serves its dry-brined chicken (both fried and grilled) in sandwiches and sliders, as well as tenders and nuggets. The comfort foods menu also includes Southern biscuits, crispy chicken skins, a pimento cheese board, house-made coleslaw and dressings, kettle chips fried on-site, and blueberry shortcake. The former runway model-turned-caterer became a household name in the early days of Top Chef nearly two decades ago, followed by a long run on talk show The Chew and a string of best-selling cookbooks.  “Miracles do happen,” she tells Eater. “I never thought I’d open [another] place, but it was the perfect storm.” She still had five years on the New York lease, so the idea of getting back into the restaurant game didn’t enter her mind until 2023. That’s when Sunnyside Restaurant Group, the family-run team behind D.C. brands like Santa Rosa Taqueria; We, the Pizza; and Good Stuff Eatery, approached Hall to do something new. She goes way back with its CEO Micheline Mendelsohn, and sibling Spike Mendelsohn (Plnt Burger) is also a former Top Chef star.  The original plan for a collaborative airport kiosk turned into something bigger: show off her famed fried chicken chops in a bona fide space. Good Stuff Eatery had a “good run” on Capitol Hill after 20 years, and the time was right to do a new concept inside that swings Southern.  “I’m no stranger to a fried chicken spot. I said, let’s not overthink it and let’s do it,” Hall says. Bumblebird doubles as the site of Hall’s first art installation in a restaurant. The avid crafter turned things up a notch during the pandemic and produced an array of paper yo-yo quilts, an homage to her late grandmother, who loved to quilt. “Chefs are passionate about showing our other creative sides — we are in the culinary arts and food is [just one] medium,” she says. Bumblebirds also showcases a build-your-own iced tea and lemonade station stocked with flavored honey syrups. Top D.C. mixologist Andra “AJ” Johnson is handling the bourbon-fueled cocktail bar program. “We wanted this to be something people come for fast-casual chicken sandwiches, but I also think of it as a watering hole to bring friends, stay for dinner, or just do lunch,” she says. “There’s something for everybody.” A Southern share board lets customers sample a cross-section of sides alongside shaved ham. Bumblebirds is billed as a six-month operation to start. “Drop into the ‘pop-in’ – we want to take it one step at a time, tweak, and see,” she says, adding that she thinks that Bumblebirds has legs to expand and scale. “It feels manageable,” she says. She hasn’t written off NY entirely, either.  “If this pops off, maybe there is a possibility,” she says. “But it’s expensive, and I don’t live there.”  The longtime DMV resident says it’s a scary time to open anywhere right now, with culinary contacts in different cities telling her business is down 30 percent overall. Taking the physical restaurant plunge with Bumblebirds and her close friend Micheline felt right, however.  “She has my back, and it’s mutual,” she says, as Sunnyside doesn’t typically team up with non-family members. “We’re walking in the space of respect and trust.” ...read more read less