Famed NC chef Vivian Howard returns to TV this fall. How to watch the new series
With a PBS show and a fine dining restaurant in rural North Carolina, Vivian Howard became a culinary superstar.
The acclaimed chef, cookbook author and fried collards evangelist has a new show set to debut this fall.
How to watch Kitchen Curious
“Kitchen Curious” will premiere on PBS stations nationwide Monday, Oct. 6, marking Howard’s third network series, following the award-winning show “A Chef’s Life” and “Somewhere South.”
Watch the trailer at kitchencurioustv.com.
New Vivian Howard show
The new show focuses on some of the biggest questions in the kitchen, such as the magic of cast iron, what makes foods healthy and when the freezer is your friend.
“With ‘Kitchen Curious,’ I wanted to make a show that I felt like I needed to watch,” Howard said in a press release. “By that I mean, there are millions of cooks, food fans and general ‘experts’ with a platform these days and they all have different opinions about what’s good or bad for you, as well as what you should eat and why. So many opinions in fact, that even I have a hard time figuring out what to buy at the grocery store. Then when I get home, I’m usually too tired to spend a lot of time cheffing things up.
“’Kitchen Curious’ covers all those bases. I visit, shop, and spend time with certified experts. I go to ground zero of the questions we all have when we cook.”
Who is Vivian Howard?
Howard rose to fame with her Kinston restaurant Chef & The Farmer, which merged southern culinary traditions and fine dining in her hometown. Her Emmy and Peabody-award winning show “A Chef’s Life” chronicled running the restaurant while exploring the cooking techniques and ingredients of Eastern North Carolina.
Fans of “A Chef’s Life” will see familiar faces in “Kitchen Curious,” like farmer Warren Brothers, who takes Howard to an antique mall in search of cast iron pans. Other stops in the series include Charleston, South Carolina, where Howard has two restaurants, an olive grove in California and a market in Paris, France.
“Vivian makes cooking approachable for anyone with even the faintest curiosity,” “Kitchen Curious” producer Sheri Hirshman said in a release. “As a lifelong food lover, I’ve learned more about producing this show than on any project I’ve worked on — not just about recipes and traditions, but about the science behind our choices and the nutritional myths we’re finally ready to bust.”
Vivian Howard restaurants
In the last year, Howard reopened and reimagined her flagship restaurant as two different concepts. There’s The Counter at Chef & The Farmer, a more casual restaurant featuring many classic menu items like the flash fried collards and blueberry barbecue chicken. And The Kitchen Bar at Chef & The Farmer, a fine dining, one-weekend-a-month service where Howard herself will be on the line cooking the food for diners.
More recently, Howard helped launch the new Theodosia restaurant at the Sanderling Resort in the Outer Banks, serving as executive chef.
This story was originally published August 21, 2025 at 4:23 PM.
