The fifth season of Vivian Howard’s PBS show A Chef’s Life is all about new experiences. After 10 years in business, Howard decides to switch up the operations at her restaurant Chef & the Farmer in Kinston, NC, hiring a chef to execute her vision so she can step out of the kitchen. After spending much of Season 4 writing her first cookbook, Howard and her team also hit the road in a souped-up (but temperamental) food truck to promote that book, Deep Run Roots. And, at the start of this new season, Howard decides to make another big change at Chef & the Farmer. “The sign that’s greeted me every morning for the last 10 years is crumbling, and there’s a family of wasps behind it,” she explains. “We gotta get a new sign.”
Just like in previous installments of A Chef’s Life, each episode showcases a different ingredient. The premiere is a celebration of ripe tomatoes, the second episode focuses on pole beans, and later in this season, Vivian will go trout fishing in the North Carolina mountains. Howard recently told Eater that this might be the last season that follows that single-ingredient formula. “I've done every ingredient that makes sense in this particular framework, and I know how to stew collard greens and make pickles and preserve, so I think it’s time to do something else,” Howard remarked.
A Chef’s Life is premiering in different markets on different days throughout October, so considering consulting your local listings (or this handy guide) if you want to catch the first episode in the coming weeks. Watch the trailer above, and check out Eater’s recent chat with Vivian Howard for more intel on what she’s been working on off-camera.
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