A Chef's Life

[Apocalypse Cow]

Lol, here's the thing... I don't usually mention anyone's involvement on the show with the people on the show.  It's awkward and they are asked about it ALL. THE. TIME. I don't like to be that person. But if I run into one of them, I'll try to work it into the convo. But again, I'm not super close with any of the staff (more like we went to high school together or our kids play ball together type friends, not share personal gossip about your boss type friends). I will ask my dad though if he's heard anything.  He goes to TCATF almost weekly for dinner and talks to her on occasion about pigs. He is a man, however, so he may be oblivious to a bump or not.

[ariel]

 Still asking - has Viv had a another child?  I'm sure your dad  can determine from the staff and his weekly dinners  if Viv has been absent & on maternity leave.

Edited May 17, 2016 by ariel

[formerlyfreedom]

Let's please move on - pressuring other posters to get information is inappropriate. Thank you!

[Actionmage]

Finally caught the Stop, Squash and Roll episode. It was cool. Vivian does so much better than she gives herself credit for, so she probably did just fine during the segment. I loved Ben surmising that the folks on-set were trying to keep Vivian calm and relaxed, then cutting to Al and Tamron silly dancing behind Vivian. I think she was just so focused on getting things concise that she didn't realize what was happening behind her.

The squash blossoms with the squash-and-onions hummus seemed like a) it was a ton of detail work and b) tasty. I'm not big on squash currently, but a cornmeal-crusted, fried squash blossom with that stuff? I'd give it a try.

Her book is out now, right? Or should be?

added: I see it on Amazon.

Edited May 18, 2016 by Actionmage

[Actionmage]

I caught the casserole episode. It was interesting.

The churches I attended as a kid were Methodist and usually once a month or two months was the potluck supper. This episode brought back the memory of tables loaded down with all kinds of tasty food.

I enjoyed seeing Vivian talking with a published cookbook author and was pleased for her that they hit it off personally. Sometimes it feels like Vivian is alone in a sea of people. I also liked meeting the lady from church that Vivian cooked with. That was indeed a cool, sneaky way of getting greens into a dish! *g*

I need to watch the episode again because I missed what the casserole was made of during the family service at Chef and The Farmer. Waffles and a couple of other ingredients. I remember being intrigued. Plus? Vivian's sweet potato biscuits looked like they were delicious.

IA that four or five dishes seems to be a bit much. Vivian wanted those types of dishes to be represented, but she ended up using the staff, or some of them, to help her either with prep or the making of the dishes. Not that that is unfair, just taking on a big choice when it seemed she really didn't have to do so. It isn't the same as the Tom Thumbs, say, as that was a special event to highlight the women's professional cooking and regional spotlighting. This episode was a church potluck; an event where as long as Vivian didn't phone in a lonely dish, the people there would be okay.

[DHDancer]

Vivian's book is pre-order status on Amazon:

Deep Run Roots: Stories and Recipes from My Corner of the South Hardcover – October 4, 2016

https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Run-Roots-Stories-Recipes/dp/0316381101/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466725497&sr=8-1&keywords=vivian+howard

[Actionmage]

I'm re-watching Season 1 in double episode bites. I already respect how much work goes into getting a restaurant up and going, but all the post-fire stuff is interesting.  Keeping trained staff, meeting code with new appliances and lighting, getting the local farms back in the swing of your place needing a buttload of produce again; it's herculean and I salute those folks who stood with Vivian and Ben.

The crackling episode was fun; I had heard of cracklins, but had never eaten them afaik. It seemed like an old- school reason for community way back in the day. Seems to be a good excuse now too!

The grits trip was very cool. The mill and the "hula dancer" were nifty. I will have to check my grocery store and see if they carry that brand, though I doubt it.

[Apocalypse Cow]

Heeeyyyyy, that cracklin' episode was our pigs. :)  That's Mr. James (the old dude) and Paul (my dad's best friend). They raise pigs together. My kids loved that episode because of Paul.

[Apocalypse Cow]

So, not to resurrect the pregnancy talk, but my mom saw Vivan at the beach a few weeks ago and said she did not look pregnant at all, but did look tired. lol

[Pickles]

Looks like season 4 started this week.

[DHDancer]

Where?  PBS is hardly known for consistency in its broadcasting schedule...

[Pickles]

It was on Thursday night here. An episode about scallions with an Avett brother tossed in.

[GaT]

It's on tonight (Saturday) here.

[Apocalypse Cow]

The onion episode was the first of Season 4.  My DVR refuses to record the Thursday night one, but does the Sunday afternoon repeat. Get it together, PBS! 

[Pickles]

The 92 year old woman on the pea episode looked amazing!

[chessiegal]

17 minutes ago, Pickles said:

The 92 year old woman on the pea episode looked amazing!

No kidding! I decided one of the things I like best about this show is the cinematography.

[biakbiak]

I just loved when Vivienne did her typical "I want you to show me how to cook them," she looked at her as if she was crazy and said "boil them in water with some salt pork" and even when they went into the kitchen she just boiled the peas with some salt pork.

[leticia]

Was there a legal issue somewhere? Vivian made a few comments like "you won't sue my will you"?  

[halopub]

I think Vivian mentioned that unintentional plagiarism was on her mind as she worked to complete her cookbook.

[chessiegal]

I heard her say she wasn't reading any cookbooks while writing hers so she didn't subconsciously plagiarize a recipe. I think (because I wasn't watching that closely), her "sue me" remark was sarcasm/attempt at humor.

[biakbiak]

3 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

I heard her say she wasn't reading any cookbooks while writing hers so she didn't subconsciously plagiarize a recipe. I think (because I wasn't watching that closely), her "sue me" remark was sarcasm/attempt at humor.

As was her friends response that if he sued her would depend on how many how many books she sold.

[Janc]

I might have sat down and cried if that'd been me about to serve 1200 people with those problems. Good on her to keep going, but I guess that's all you can do. 

[GaT]

She seemed really unprepared & unprofessional to me in the 2nd cabbage episode. She didn't specify the correct equipment she needed, she just assumed it would be correct, based on past experience she knew the cornmeal wouldn't be correct, yet she didn't bring any with her like she should have, & she only asked one person to come with her & then had to scramble to get people around the place to help her out at the last minute. This wasn't the first festival she had ever worked, but from how she prepared, it could have been. 

[biakbiak]

Eh she told the organizers the recipe and they should know that lame ass fryer.

I mean I think the entire story was bullshit, you don't go from a tiny ass fryer to a decent size fryer in moments and the drama over the charcoal not immediately ask for the help. was straight up ridiculous. 

[Pickles]

Did anyone watch the rabbit episode? I turned it off as soon as they talked about "stunning" the rabbits. I don't need to see that.

[GaT]

7 hours ago, Pickles said:

Did anyone watch the rabbit episode? I turned it off as soon as they talked about "stunning" the rabbits. I don't need to see that.

Huh, my DVR didn't record it. 

EDITED: I found the episode on OnDemand, no idea why it didn't record. I only sort of watched it because I'm not into killing or eating rabbits. I don't know how Vivian can pet them & look at the babies & then cook them for the restaurant.

I thought it was interesting that it was Halloween during the episode, they must film the show a full year before it gets broadcast.

Edited October 20, 2016 by GaT

[halopub]

19 hours ago, GaT said:

Huh, my DVR didn't record it. 

EDITED: I found the episode on OnDemand, no idea why it didn't record. I only sort of watched it because I'm not into killing or eating rabbits. I don't know how Vivian can pet them & look at the babies & then cook them for the restaurant.

I thought it was interesting that it was Halloween during the episode, they must film the show a full year before it gets broadcast.

You can get a sense of the timeline by looking at Vivian's Twitter account. I expect next fall's episodes to cover the book media tour. 

That was a tough episode to watch and I chose to mostly listen to the episode in the background.

On one hand, I can understand why the two chefs argue for the popularization of rabbits as a more sustainable, environmentally meat. But rabbits are so much more than just 'cute.' I know a lot of bunny people and their rabbits are incredibly personable, intelligent companions. Rabbits who own their "hoomans" more than the other way around.

I already feel some measure of guilt for enjoying beef, pork and poultry. Why popularize another awesome animal into the American diet when the chefs' ultimate objective is for us to cut down on our overall meat consumption? So I respect Vivian for taking a potentially unpopular stand but I have to disagree with her position. Fingers crossed the experiments to create healthier, affordable lab-meat work out.

Regarding the other story line, I was sorry to see John preparing to leave the restaurant. He and Justise were a fun pair in the kitchen. I'm curious how long Vivian had to work the line before they found another suitable sous chef.

Dishing With Executive Chef John May of Piedmont Restaurant

Edited October 20, 2016 by halopub
spelling

[GaT]

Is anybody else having trouble with recording this season? I don't know if the station has just stopped showing the show, or the description in the guide is screwy, but I'm not getting the recordings, I have to keep remembering to watch it on OnDemand.

[biakbiak]

Thanks! I totally forgot that I had seen a few episodes this season and haven't seen one in a few weeks.

[buttersister]

They aired the sunchoke episode in Chicago today. Vivian struggles (what else is new?) with serving steak and pork chops on the menu (big proteins) but at least she got to serve the steak with a sunchoke relish she made. Okay. After all the time spent on Ben's art show last season, maybe he got done with cameras in his face? (Sorry, sounds to me like something Vivian would say.)

[GaT]

Either they never aired the sunchoke episode here, or the guide isn't showing it as new because I watched it on OnDemand.

[Christina]

Because I live in the middle of nowhere, I have to pay for the local channels. I get two PBS stations, and one plays this show at 1:30 a.m. and the other doesn't play it at all, I have to watch it online at PBS.com.

I'm not enjoying this season that much. She seems overly dramatic and whiny, or something. I can't quite put my finger on what it is that is annoying me, but the problem is, a lot of it seems manufactured. The rabbit episode, for instance, had her speaking about how using rabbit meat is controversial, which I have never heard here in Ohio, and it turns out it was a few PETA protesters, who protest all meat, nothing specific to rabbit. I know it isn't a common protein, but neither is goat or lamb in my area. Others have already addressed the cabbage episode shenanigans, which also seemed to be manufactured drama and she didn't walk away looking good, to me.

I also haven't been that impressed with the food. That's not really her fault or the fault of the show, they just haven't made anything that I really wanted to try. The farmer's episode, for instance, had her making a meal based around onions. I don't like the taste of onions, and was thinking how I would have starved if I was there because I wouldn't have been able to choke anything down. I attended a festival in Albuquerque that had green chiles in every dish, another flavor I don't like, and I paid $50 and went home hungry. At least that money went to a good cause and my boyfriend ate his and some of mine. 

[GaT]

2 hours ago, Christina said:

I'm not enjoying this season that much. She seems overly dramatic and whiny, or something. I can't quite put my finger on what it is that is annoying me, but the problem is, a lot of it seems manufactured. 

I think the difference with this season is that the previous seasons were about Vivian & her husband running the restaurant. This season she's all about the cookbook & hasn't spent much time in the restaurant at all, & when they lost their sous chef, she had to go back & she wasn't happy about it. 

[Pickles]

The mayo episode. I did not think the fish salad looked too appetizing, but I am not a huge fish person. I wonder how the new chef, Brian, will work out. It looks a little awkward right now, but Vivian probably just needs to let him settle in. He seems knowledgeable and certainly looks serious.

Crazy how Vivian was going to Mexico with a girlfriend and her daughter got sick, the hotel burned down and her flight was cancelled! But, she was still going! Lol.

[GaT]

And she forgot all about having Valentine's Day dinner with her husband at her own restaurant. 

[freeser]

The sunchoke episode was on today.  I sort of do understand where Vivian is coming from, yet this was a perplexing show.  She wanted to use sunchokes as they were a winter crop that was in season and she said that really was something close to her heart.  OK...  She went to see a friend who knew how to prepare them in a better way than she could.  OK...  She did not prepare them exactly as he did and made a few changes.  She decided to use the sunchokes in a relish type mixture. 

Unfortunately for poor Vivian, the only way to use and get rid of the relish was to put in on top of a steak.  She just had a cow (!) over the fact that she was going to have to add steaks to the menu.  She kept saying that the 'problem' was that if they were on the menu, everyone would order one!  I know she wants to push the unusual and seasonal food she really likes, but to have such problems because an item on your menu would REALLY sell well was weird. 

She mentioned that her 'husband and business partner' Ben told her he felt it would be a good idea to include the steaks even though Vivian did not like the idea.  Not surprisingly, he said it would be quite helpful business wise to have an item that would sell really well.  Vivian was upset that some of her more local, regional, unusual things were not being ordered by patrons.  She told her staff even though steak is on the menu, to please try to get customers to order other things.  She then did a post dinner talk that said, as she feared most people ordered steaks...  Sigh.......

I know she likes to use rather quirky or different ingredients.  But if she wants to be able to maintain and grow or just keep the restaurant open and thriving, she need to realize that many patrons want what THEY want and not necessarily what SHE wants them to eat.  She also mentions that the menu changes with the seasons.  I wonder how that sits with patrons.  I understand having some seasonal food added to the menu, but it seems that the entire menu changes at times from week to week.  If you really liked something she was offering, returned a few months later to find that it was not longer available, that sure could affect some folks from becoming steady diners. 

I know the reasons she had to open the restaurant in the North Carolina area.  But it still makes we wonder if her ideas are not ones that fit in with the community where it is located.  It feels like she is battling and fighting over her menu choices all the time as they don't seem to be what her patrons really want.

[GaT]

3 minutes ago, freeser said:

I know she likes to use rather quirky or different ingredients.  But if she wants to be able to maintain and grow or just keep the restaurant open and thriving, she need to realize that many patrons want what THEY want and not necessarily what SHE wants them to eat.  She also mentions that the menu changes with the seasons.  I wonder how that sits with patrons.  I understand having some seasonal food added to the menu, but it seems that the entire menu changes at times from week to week.  If you really liked something she was offering, returned a few months later to find that it was not longer available, that sure could affect some folks from becoming steady diners. 

Not to mention that steak really doesn't have a season. I think a lot of restaurants do this. It's one of my major grips about Panera Bread, my favorite soup, lemon chicken orzo, is only available during the summer because it's "seasonal". Since when does orzo have a season? I think it just comes down to some places give their customers what they want them to want, & not necessarily what they really want.

[Janc]

Is Season 4 over? I've had repeats for the past two weeks, anyone else?

[GaT]

5 hours ago, Janc said:

Is Season 4 over? I've had repeats for the past two weeks, anyone else?

I don't see anything new on OnDemand either, The show's web site shows only 8 episodes for season 4, but I don't know if that means there will only be 8 episodes, or if it means only 8 episodes have aired so far. I found this on the FB page:

Quote

Give the gift of #AChefsLife this holiday season! We've got something special for your someone special. Your purchase goes to support Season 5, premiering Fall 2017! 

so it doesn't sound like it was canceled.

[Automne]

It's a little strange that she doesn't want to have steak on the menu, especially if the gripe is that it'll sell. What I was taught in the business class in culinary school is that you want your "bread and butter" items, the guaranteed sellers. Those are the items that will keep the doors open. The rest of the menu can be esoteric, seasonal, and local, but you have to have that steak, the mashed potatoes, whatever on the menu. 

[fourPLUSseven]

Wondering how long it will be before we hear whispers of Ben &Viv separating? He seems to be left out lately. Siting her mad dash to Mexico.

[honeydo7]

According to the January 2017 "Chef's Life," e-mails I get  from PBS/Create TV, Pennsylvania viewers have to wait until October to watch those new season 4 episodes .....don't think I can wait that long......anybody know if PBS streams them on their website?

Sorry, I meant Season 5!

[chessiegal]

2 hours ago, honeydo7 said:

According to the January 2017 "Chef's Life," e-mails I get  from PBS/Create TV, Pennsylvania viewers have to wait until October to watch those new season 4 episodes .....don't think I can wait that long......anybody know if PBS streams them on their website?

Sorry, I meant Season 5!

I checked my PBS app, and it is showing Season 4, Episode 10 as the latest show. I think they are not releasing them until they air somewhere. I didn't check the PBS or the show's website.

[SunnyBeBe]

I agree with the comments above about the patron wanting what they want.  I do see how Vivian wants to educate the diner.  It likely thrills her to excite the unsophisticated palate with her variations on old, tried and true dishes, HOWEVER, imo, there are some things that just do not need to be redone, deconstructed, modified or changed. Sometimes, just a  plain old bowl of pinto beans is fine.  Add some chopped onion on the side and some corn bread. You don't have to mess around with it.  lol  I was born and raised in NC (Triangle) and I have no idea how she makes a living in Kinston.  They must do an excellent job, considering that it's not the regular fare. 

I do wonder if she would do better in Raleigh or Charlotte, though, I understand that it's not really up to her.  It was an odd venture for sure and I wonder if it's brought any resentment or hard feelings. 

[chessiegal]

Vivian and her husband must be doing fine. Their restaurants are flourishing and they built a new house. I've read that Kinston is benefitting from their restaurants, with other businesses opening.

[GaT]

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

 I've read that Kinston is benefitting from their restaurants, with other businesses opening.

It's probably like Waco, Tx benefitting from the "Fixer Upper" show, their business seems to be flourishing & with all the tourists coming in to go to their store & stay in their vacation house, other businesses are opening to take advantage of the publicity.

[DHDancer]

Re Episode 10:  So did anyone catch which mayo came out on top? Was it Hellemans/Best Foods or Blue Plate?  Or was it Dukes?  I know it wasn't Miracle Whip (ee gads...)

[QuelleC]

They built the house  what the builders called a dentist office what four years ago?  Yes they have opened more businesses, more than they say.  

Her parents made a ton of money from tobacco tax benefits.  Her father built a folly mountain cabin on his land where he lived while Vivian and her so called husband who doesn't like her suffered living in her parents house while the dentist office was being built.  It's a compound like the  Kennedy's. Her privilege makes me ill.

[QuelleC]

I forgot to say I just saw a new episode where she picked green onions out of a farm she said she owned and showed up to introduce herself for the first time. 

[GaT]

Has season 4 started?