If there's one thing Paula Deen is known for, it's her love and appreciation of butter because no true Southern cook can cook without it. Her recipes are easy to make at home because, simply, she is a home cook herself. In 2018, the celebrity chef will open her first restaurant in Texas with a second to follow only a few short weeks later. Here's what you need to know.
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Paula Deen's Family Kitchen will be in the Fairview Town Center and open Spring 2018, per the Dallas News. A restaurant start-up company from New York is developing the Fairview location, and a second location is planned for San Antonio. The restaurant will seat 250 guests and will also include a replica of Deen's iconic home kitchen from her show. Customers will also find her merchandise for sale inside.
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In a press release obtained by the Dallas News, Deen stated:
"I adore all my fans in Texas, and bringing my Southern cooking to the Lone Star State is something I have dreamed about for years."
The menu will include her Southern fried chicken, spare ribs, and Georgia fried catfish. However, we're hoping to see some brisket appear on that menu, too. If anyone can do it, Paula can.
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Her original restaurant, The Lady & Sons, is still operating under her ownership and has been since 1996. However, these two restaurant ventures will more closely mimic her Paula Deen's Family Kitchen restaurants with locations in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Deen fell out of favor with Food Network after receiving criticism for "racially insensitive comments she made in a deposition that was part of a discrimination lawsuit by a former employee," the Dallas News stated.