A Chef’s Life is a documentary and cooking series that takes viewers inside the life of Chef Vivian Howard, who, with her husband Ben Knight, returned home to open a fine dining restaurant in small-town Eastern North Carolina. Each episode follows Vivian out of the kitchen and into cornfields, strawberry patches and hog farms as she hunts down the ingredients that inspire her menus. Using a chef’s modern sensibilities, Vivian explores Southern cuisine, past and present – one ingredient at a time. A celebration of true farm-to-table food, the series combines the action and drama of a high-pressure business with the joys and stresses of family life.

Tomatoes… You Say Heirloom, I Say Old Timey
Mary Vaughn shows Chef Vivian the old-timey way to can tomatoes. Vivian prepares for a Southern Foodways Alliance luncheon at the restaurant where food enthusiasts from around the country are coming to study BBQ, and Vivian plans to serve them the “ultimate tomato sandwich.”