Vivian Howard’s new show has a spring premiere date, but you can catch her this Friday
North Carolina chef Vivian Howard is set to return to television by springtime.
PBS says Howard’s new six-part series, “Somewhere South,” will premiere March 27 and air nationally in prime time on Fridays. The name has been tweaked slightly from the its working title, “South By Somewhere.”
Howard, director Cynthia Hill and Durham-based production company Markay Media, collected numerous awards and accolades for their PBS documentary series “A Chef’s Life,” including a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Culinary Program. That show depicted the unique foodways of Eastern North Carolina and Howard’s life as she ran two restaurants, wrote a cookbook and raised her family.
“Somewhere South” continues that exploration, looking at dishes that cross and unite cultures, including handpies, pickles, dumplings and others.
“The home kitchens I learn in, the stories I hear people share, the food I watch them make — it has lit a fresh fire under me,” Howard said earlier this year in a release. “I’m excited that, as Southerners, we can tell these complex stories through food and culture, and not shy away from our past or present.”
‘Somewhere South’ preview
Viewers will get a preview of “Somewhere South” this Friday as Howard and celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson host “Chefs Marcus and Vivian: A Taste of What’s Next,” a half-hour showcase of PBS’ food-related programming coming up this year. The special will air Dec. 13 at 8:30 p.m. on PBS.
One major difference between “A Chef’s Life” and the new show is that Howard will now air in a prime 9 p.m. time slot on PBS stations across the nation. The first season of “Somewhere South” will feature six hour-long episodes, with the finale airing May 1.
Earlier this year, Howard and Markay learned they had been awarded a $600,000 grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities to help make “Somewhere South.”
“Our pitch to (NEH) was to create a project where each episode focuses on one common dish and the way different Southern communities create their variations of that food as an expression of their values, identities, and histories,” Howard said in an email earlier this year in response to the award.
“We’ll use the funds to support production of the series and create supplemental content that supports each episode, such as an interactive website that allows us to take a deeper dive into some of the stories and communities featured in each episode. The funds will also allow us to explore partnerships and outreach opportunities with community organizations as they relate to the show.”
This story was originally published December 10, 2019 at 11:14 AM.
