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Carla Hall_sm

By Marcia Wade Talbert | Published July 6, 2010 | Full size is 500 × 340 pixels

Hall was the runner-up on Top Chef Season 5 in 2009, but before that she graduated from the Gaithersburg, Maryland-based L’Academie de Cuisine and served as an executive chef at several posh hotels. She started Alchemy Caterers in 2003, outfitting weddings, and corporate and private parties with food from the farms in Chesapeake Bay, and offering cooking classes that can run about $1,500 for eight guests.

Hall was the runner-up on Top Chef Season 5 in 2009, but before that she…