Don't Tom Thumb Your Nose at Me! Part 1 -
chef's life

Vivian, Ben and the entire Chef and the Farmer staff hustle to complete the preparations necessary for her luncheon at the Southern Foodways Alliance symposium in Oxford, Mississippi. At the center of her generation-spanning meal is the Tom Thumb, a pungent and rich sausage stuffed into a pig's appendix. As preparations get underway, the sheer math of the moment is astounding: four courses for 400 food writers and Southern food enthusiasts - 1,600 plates in the span of 90 minutes. Vivian greets this honor with terror and sheer force of will, leaving a long prep day with a sense of pride and excitement.

Episode Duration: 26 minutes and 46 seconds

Episode Number: 204

About Chef's Life:

A Chef's Life is a new food/reality series featuring Chef Vivian Howard.

Vivian was making a name for herself in New York City, when her father, a hog farmer, offered to get her started in her own restaurant.

The catch? It would be located in her home town, a place she swore she would never return --- the Deep South.

The series plunges audiences into the kitchen of the restaurant Chef and The Farmer, a highbrow restaurant located in Kinston, NC, one of the most impoverished communities in the U.S.

When Vivian arrives home, she begs local farmers to grow fennel, lemongrass and Jerusalem artichokes --- none of which are native to the region.

Soon, she realizes that the cooking techniques she learned in New York could be applied to her "grandmother's ingredients," the bounty grown by local farmers.

Vivian's recipes are exquisitely assembled to bring out the best in the locally grown fresh ingredients.

This is real "southern cooking," anyone can implement into their own lives.

Six years in, Vivian has become a pillar in this small community, with the restaurant winning accolades across the country.

As the series opens, she and her husband Ben are juggling the business and raising twins, when a devastating kitchen fire destroys the restaurant overnight.

What happens next is a true testament to Southern grit.

Visit the Chef's Life web site

---

Watch Chef's Life - Clips, Episodes & Previews

---

---

NHPBS Over-the-Air Broadcast

---

NHPBS Five Channels

NHPBS Passport - Learn More