Today we’d like to introduce you to Vivian Howard.
Hi Vivian, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I grew up in Deep Run, a small town in eastern North Carolina. I started out working in advertising right after college. I soon realized that I wanted to work in the food world. I went to culinary school and then worked in the kitchens of several of New York’s top-rated restaurants — Voyage, WD-50, and Spice Market under the tutelage of renowned chefs — Scott Barton, Wylie Dufresne, Sam Mason, and Jean Georges Vongerichten, respectively.
My parents enticed me to come back to North Carolina with an offer to help me open a restaurant. In 2005, I opened Chef & the Farmer in Kinston, N.C. The farm-to-table fine dining restaurant celebrates the foods of eastern North Carolina and turned Kinston into a tourist destination. I expanded my entrepreneurial footprint with four other ventures: the Boiler Room, a popular oyster and burger bar that closed due to the pandemic; Benny’s Big Time Pizzeria in Wilmington, N.C.; Handy & Hot, an online bakeshop, now with a brick-and-mortar version ensconced in the Charleston Renaissance Hotel in the historic district in Charleston, S.C., and Lenoir, an upscale restaurant in the same location.
In 2012, I joined forces with documentary filmmaker Cynthia Hill, who hails from nearby Pink Hill, N.C., to create “A Chef’s Life,” a PBS television series celebrating eastern North Carolina foods. The show ran for five seasons and won Emmy, Peabody, and James Beard awards. We also developed and produced “Somewhere South,” a limited series focused on the foodways and stories of the American South that ran on PBS stations in primetime in 2020.
I’ve also written two cookbooks. “Deep Run Roots” was published in 2016 and won four International Association of Culinary Professionals awards, including cookbook of the year. Last fall, “This Will Make It Taste Good: A New Path to Simple Cooking,” debuted. I currently write a regular column called Country Accent in Garden & Gun magazine.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Any time you start from a rural place, any time you try to do something from a rural place, there are challenges inherent in that. It’s very hard to be heard.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Lenoir and Handy & Hot?
I have two restaurants in Charleston, S.C.: Lenoir and Handy & Hot.
Handy & Hot started as an online mail-order bakery. Then in August 2020, I was able to open a brick-and-mortar location in downtown Charleston serving coffee, hand pies, biscuits, and other grab-and-go breakfast and lunch items. I’m proud that Southern Living named Handy & Hot as one of “The South’s Best Bakeries 2021.” Lenoir opened in April 2021. It is an upscale restaurant that aims to remind people that the South is a nuanced place with a storied history and distinct food traditions. Unlike the coastal cuisine that Charleston restaurants are known for, Lenoir reflects my home terrain and serves the cuisine of the rural, agricultural South. Named for my home county in eastern North Carolina, Lenoir aims to leave people feeling like guests in our home rather than patrons in our restaurant.
What was you like growing up?
I am the youngest of four daughters in a tobacco and hog farming family. As the baby of the family, I was always an entertainer so much so that my father’s nickname for me was “Big Time.” This should come as no surprise to anyone who has seen me on television.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.vivianhoward.com/
- Instagram: @chefandthef
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeepRunRoots
Image Credits
Baxter Miller
