Spend a Delectably Engaging Evening with Carla Hall and Tom Sietsema – Pre Event Meet & Greet 5:30pm, Interview 7:00pm

Presented in partnership with Les Dames d’Escoffier

Celebrity chef/talk-show host Carla Hall and former Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema return to Hill Center for a conversation and they both have so much news to share! Carla has been touring the country with her new cookbook, “Carla Bakes: Sweet, Savory and From the Heart” (4 Color Books) and Tom is now the food correspondent for The Washington Sun. This time, Tom will interview Carla — turnabout from “Ask Tom (Almost) Anything” — but if you saw them here just over a year ago, you know their exchange will be lively and personal.

Added perks: The D.C./regional chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier, of which Carla’s been a longtime member, will host a pre-event meet-and-greet at Hill Center with Carla and Tom, featuring savory and sweet treats from “Carla Bakes.” East City Bookshop will be onsite to sell the cookbook and Carla will happily sign books.

Les Dames d’Escoffier  is the preeminent global professional association for women shaping the culinary and hospitality industries.

Chef Carla Hall is happy to share the inside scoop on her latest cookbook, which is also her first baking book: Carla Hall Bakes: Sweet & Savory, From My Heart to Your Kitchen. She also publishes the biannual, digital Sweet Heritage magazine that celebrates food, culture, and personal stories.

Previously, Carla hosted the Emmy Award–winning culinary travel show Chasing Flavors (Max) and served as a judge on multiple seasons of the culinary competitions Harry Potter: The Wizards of Baking, Halloween Baking Championship, and Holiday Baking Championship.

Carla, a Nashville native, Howard University alum, D.C. resident, and member of Les Dames d’Escoffier Washington DC Regional Chapter, is active in several charities and nonprofit organizations, including Beyond Bedtime, GenYouth, the USO (ambassador!), the Alzheimer’s Association, the James Beard Foundation, FEED America, and the Jacques Pepin Foundation. In 2024, Les Dames d’Escoffier International honored her as a Grande Dame, its lifetime achievement award for extraordinary contributions within the fields of food, beverage and hospitality.

Journalist Tom Sietsema is the food correspondent for the Washington Sun (formerly NOTUS), the D.C.-based political news site from Politico co-founder Robert Allbritton. Previously, he was the food critic for The Washington Post (2000-2025), where he received a James Beard award for his year-long series on the 10 best food cities in America. His Next Course newsletter publishes online twice a month.

A Minnesota native, Sietsema is a graduate of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He has also worked at Microsoft Corp., the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the San Francisco Chronicle and The Milwaukee Journal.