The secret behind Carla Hall's hot chicken

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The secret behind Carla Hall’s 'hot chicken'

Top Chef alum talks about her Kickstarter campaign to open a Nashville-style Southern restaurant in New York City

Carla Hall says that the secret to her Southern-style hot chicken is the oil.

The "Top Chef" alum and "The Chew" co-host, who recently started a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to open a Nashville-style chicken restaurant in New York City, stopped by our studios to talk about her new venture.

So what the heck is hot chicken?

"Hot chicken is typically a Southern fried chicken tossed in a hot oil," Hall told FoxNews.com about the fried chicken-style distinct to her hometown. "We make that oil with the canola oil, and then it has cayenne, smoked paprika, garlic powder and a little bit of sugar, and it goes from mildly hot to fiery hot."

The Kickstarter for Carla Hall's Southern Kitchen has raised more than $64,000 (and counting), and Hall says not to underestimate Southern food fans in New York City. After opening her Big Apple location, Hall plans to launch a second location in Washington, D.C.. She says she turned to crowdfunding to give fans a sense of ownership and community in the restaurant.

"We are going through private investors, but I thought that my fans who have asked me since I was on 'Top Chef,' 'When are you going to open a restaurant, when are you going to open a restaurant?' I announced it and I figured maybe they want to be a part of that," Hall said.

Watch the full interview with Carla Hall in the video above.