A Chef's Life

Chef Vivian Howard and her husband Ben leave New York to open a restaurant in her small North Carolina hometown. Vivian revisits the Southern tradition of “putting up” corn and shares her method for making smoked corn relish. As the episode concludes, a devastating setback threatens their new life.

After a year recovering from a restaurant fire and re-opening Chef and the Farmer, Vivian and Ben go all-in to open a burger/oyster bar called The Boiler Room. Vivian boils over with the stress of staffing adjustments, testing new menu concepts, and the enormous task of putting 500 pounds of blueberries to good use.

With squash season in full effect, trouble with the twins, staffing issues at the Boiler Room, and a new cookbook overloading her plate, Vivian seeks motherly advice from Mrs. Scarlett and her sister Johna over a Southern classic: squash and onions. Despite nerves, Vivian plays it cool on camera, as Ben and all of Kinston anticipate her appearance on The Today Show.

Spring onions kick off the season in high gear as Vivian takes a break from penning her first cookbook to prepare a benefit dinner at Lomax Farm in Cabarrus County, NC. Even though The Avett Brothers make an appearance, the underdog onion steals the show, playing both star and support.

In Season 5, Vivian Howard finds plenty of reasons to celebrate, as Chef and the Farmer turns 10 years old and her first cookbook hits the New York Times bestseller list. So, she sets out on a book tour with her trusted team and a finicky food truck. In between greeting hordes of fans in multiple states, Vivian discovers small batch whiskey in Kentucky, fishes for trout in the North Carolina mountains, and breaks bread with fellow chefs in the Virginia hills where good food and good music meet.