Junious Smith III
Kinston Free Press
July 23,2013
When Vivian Howard started Chef and The Farmer with her husband, Benjamin Knight, in 2006, she said many people expected the fine-dining restaurant to fail.
It’s safe to say those thoughts have all but disappeared from everyone’s mind as the restaurant has been repeatedly recognized as one of the premier eating establishments in the state — and in the South.
“People were very skeptical at the beginning, but we’ve had a lot of community support,” Howard said. “We’ve also had clientele from across the state who drive all the way here to eat, so we’ve been able to stay afloat with a strong customer base.”
Howard — who grew up on a farm near Deep Run — moved to New York City after college, finding a passion in food after being hired at a restaurant, which specialized in Southern food. There, she met Knight, and the two were married and decided to move back to the farm Howard grew up on after her parents gave her the funding to open a restaurant in Eastern North Carolina.
Since 2011, the two have been working on a series for PBS entitled “A Chef’s Life.” The program — which is about Southern cuisine, Eastern North Carolina and their restaurant — is a 13-part series and scheduled to debut nationally on Sept. 12 at 9:30 p.m., airing every Thursday at that time with encore presentations on Sundays at 12:30 p.m.
“We started the series as a way to document dying Southern traditions, such as making preserves, collard kraut and homemade wine,” Howard said. “We sent the pilot episode to Cynthia Hill, who is from Pink Hill and has made documentaries and worked with PBS. She enjoyed it and we continued to work on the series.
Recently, Howard has been working on trying to raise $50,000 for PBS fees and other expenses through the nonprofit website indiegogo.com.
“A series on a station like Food Network would cost about $100,000 an episode,” Howard said. “We’ve made 13 for a little under $100,000. We’re thankful for the money we’ve received from the Lenoir Committee of 100, N.C. Pork Council and a few local donations. We’ve come out of our pockets as well but still had expenses, so we started the site to take care of fees.”
Diane Lucas — director of programming and education services for UNC-TV — has seen a bit of “A Chef’s Life.” She had good reviews for a type of program PBS usually doesn’t air.
“It’s a different type of show, combining cooking and reality, but it does feature a chef that lived here, went to New York and came back because of the opportunity,” Lucas said. “Our program manager has seen a few episodes and is very enthusiastic about it. This is not the typical type of cooking show we see on public television.
“It’s a new concept for us and we’ll see what happens.”
Ultimately, Howard wants her hometown and the area around it to be seen nationwide in the best way possible.
“The main goal is to have the series air and show off Eastern North Carolina, the area that I’ve lived in and love,” Howard said. “I want to share the culture and shine a positive light on the town and community. The story of Southern food is engaging and interesting and if we could get this aired, it would be great for the area.”