Paula Deen Previews Her Buttery New Southern Cooking Cafe Despite 35-Pound Weight Loss And Scorching Scandals

Paula Deen is dishing up previews of her new restaurant. And despite her much-publicized weight loss success, the Southern cooking queen is talking fattening foods such as fried chicken heaped onto enormous platters, reported E News.

Established in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen will serve up three hefty meals a day. Opening day is scheduled for April 27.

“I am so excited to serve the food family style—in big bowls to the table,” declared Paula.

She paints a portrait of a restaurant designed after an old-fashioned grandmother’s family reunion, with everything made from scratch.

“Everyone will share like they are at their grandmother’s table. Everything is so fresh. I want to take people back to the time when their feet were under their grandmother’s table. I want them to relive those memories and create new ones.”

As for Deen’s menu, restaurant patrons can expect plenty of buttery concoctions. In addition to fried chicken, Paula will fry up okra and butter up those biscuits, corn, and sweet potatoes.

But although she’s promoting a tasty future for her fans, her career past remains scorched. She confessed using the N-word in a racial discrimination scandal that caused her sponsors as well as Food Network to drop her like a hot potato.

Then she denied having diabetes, only to admit it amid anger from experts and former fans that she had been promoting high-sugar Deen desserts while being aware of her condition.

As the Inquisitr reported, however, Deen then publicized her success in losing 35 pounds in just four months.

“I went home to my kitchen and I threw out everything that was white: White bread, white rice, white potatoes, white pasta. I did that for four months, y’all! Just four months.”

In addition to tossing out the carbohydrates, Paula learned to make healthy swaps. She credits her son Bobby Deen for helping her.

“My son Bobby introduced me to yogurt. It’s got that same richness and consistency that you get from mayonnaise,” revealed Paula. “But a lot, lot better for you. You can switch it out with yogurt, anything that calls for that kind of creaminess.”

In addition to her new restaurant, Deen’s post-scandal endeavors include a video game, reported Game Spot.

It’s called “Recipe Quest” and allows players to experience her career while experimenting with ingredients. You can even aim to be a Paula clone by concocting your own cafe.

“Travel through Paula’s career and mix and match ingredients and your way through hundreds of recipes and work your way to become the top home cook and opening your own restaurant,” promises the game promo.

[Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Food Network SoBe Wine & Food Festival]