‘A Chef’s Life’ Host Vivian Howard Has a New Show Coming to PBS

A Chef’s Life, the Peabody Award-winning PBS series in which host Vivian Howard spotlights Southern ingredients in the small town of Kinston, North Carolina, won’t return for a sixth season, according to the Raleigh News & Observer. However, Howard, chef-owner of the lauded Kinston restaurant Chef & the Farmer, has a new PBS project in the works.

PBS will reportedly close out A Chef’s Life, which saw its final season air last fall, with a one-hour “Harvest Special” episode that is scheduled to broadcast nationally on Monday, October 22. The new series, with six one-hour episodes and a working title of South by Somewhere, is currently in production and will come to air sometime next year, per the News & Observer. Details are scarce, but Howard says the show will air in primetime and “continue to highlight Kinston and the South.” Howard is working with Markay Media, the same company that produced A Chef’s Life.

The chef, restaurateur, author, and television host also operates the Boiler Room oyster bar in Kinston and Benny’s Big Time Pizzeria in Wilmington, North Carolina. Her first cookbook, Deep Run Roots, published in 2016 and won four International Association of Culinary Professional awards, including cookbook of the year.

In a 2017 interview with Eater, Howard hinted at going in a new direction on television. “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,” she said, “so I think it’s time to do something else.”

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