Chef and Farmer

Chef and Farmer “ Vivian Howard originally made a name for herself in the Manhattan restaurant world and with her own gourmet delivery service. Acclaim and potential investors poured in, but it was the offer from her own parents that called to her the loudest. They would help her build a restaurant — but with one catch. She had to open it back home in Eastern North Carolina, a place to which she swore she would never return. And so The Chef & the Farmer, located in Kinston, North Carolina, was born. Six years in, Vivian and her restaurant have won numerous accolades, including her selection as a James Beard semi-finalist, but the challenges continue. As the series opens, Vivian and Ben are juggling the restaurant, raising twins and anxiously building their own home — right next door to her parents. Note that I've posted this in the "Idyll" rather than "Food" file. Perhaps my pleasure with this PBS series is due to my family's love for Nags Head and indeed the entire East North Carolina region.  At one point we loved all of North Carolina and pondered a retired life there, but our last trip to the Raleigh region showed it had become a traffic choked hell, akin to Virginia Beach.  And then they started electing Democrats.  I avoided "A Chef's Life" for a long time because, duh, the genre has exploded, and most are the same.  But this  has a sweetness to it that I cannot get enough of.  I adore these peole and would like to be their neighbors, and spend time every day at the arster bar.  More and more I'm hankering to  head south.  This one could happen,  because seeing the kids would only require a 6 hour drive each way. For them, LOL. ”