Chef & The Farmer

I mentioned a while back that "A Chef's Life" on PBS is one of my most favorite food shows on TV. I've bought every season of the show on iTunes and have it on my iPad at all times, so I watch it regularly.

We were lucky enough to had the chance to actually dine at Chef & The Farmer back in early Dec. of 2015. We made the trip to Kinston, N. Carolina just to dine at the restaurant.

We arrived early before our reservation. So decided to walk across the street and visit their other restaurant, The Boiler Room.

We didn't stay long because we just wanted to take a look. But soon our reservation time arrived and we were seated. I must say that the restaurant was smaller than I was expecting. But the vibe was very good and it was pretty buzzy. I think by then, it has certainly hit its fame because the 2nd season of Chef and the Farmer would have aired by then.

The menu consisted of only one page. The items were divided into 3 sections: Share Plates, Small Plates, and Large Plates. We ordered 2 items from shared plates: warm lima bean spread and the beef carpaccio.

OK, first of all, even if you don't like lima bean, ORDER THE LIMA BEAN SPREAD if it is on the menu. Trust me on this. This was surprisingly very, very good. It is a humus-like spread served with toast points. If we weren't at such a fine restaurant, I would have licked the bowl.

The carpaccio was fine, there was nothing wrong with it, but it was severely overshadowed by the lima bean spread.

So then comes the entree (or what they called large plates). There were 4 of us, and we decided that we each got something different, so that we can have a taste on the other dishes. I ordered the Dayboat Flounder. Very good and satisfying.

We also had another fish entree that was ordered, which was the Wood-Roasted catfish, served with sprouted Hoppin' John, pomegranate, and fannel aioli. This was also good and the Hoppin' John was certainly different than the usual.

There was green curry rabbit. Love the rabbit meat, and nothing wrong with the flavor. But of course, the heat of the green curry was toned down considerably.

However, the winner entree of the evening was, in my opinion, the Cavatelli Pasta served with beef sausage. It was outstanding! The beef sausage alone could have been the main star by itself. This was easily the most tasty dish on our table.

And then, of course, we ordered desserts. I'll start with the best one, and unfortunately, I can't remember what it was exactly since this was their "Ice Cream of the Day". I think it was some sort of a sorbet, but it was easily the best dessert on the table. I wish I had ordered it.

This is the chocolate peppermint cake. I didn't have a taste of it, but the plate was cleaned at the end of our meal.

This is the Chocolate Bread Pudding. You can't go wrong with this.

Finally, we come to the dessert that I ordered, and unfortunately, this was where they had a slight hiccup. I ordered the buttermilk grapefruit Panna Cotta. While the flavor was excellent, the texture fell short. The Panna Cotta didn't actually set completely, because it was still a bit runny. I still ate it all, but this was where it was a minor letdown after such a fine meal.

Interestingly enough, in Season 3, Episode 8 titled "Honey, I'm Home!" of A Chef's Life, her sous chef at that time, John May, also had issue with the Panna Cotta they were serving not setting properly at Ben Knight's art show. So it appears that they are not getting good luck with this dessert.

We had a terrific time there. Food and service were top-notch. The sad thing was that we didn't get to meet with Chef Vivian Howard. I did ask, and our server was gracious enough to take down my name and address, while letting us keep the menu that we were served with that evening.

2 weeks later, in the mail came a signed menu from Chef Howard and a very nice note.

I mean, really, not many people make time to do this. So I was pleasantly surprised. You can see the items on the menu that we had for that evening. I was already a big fan of her and the show, and this just reinforced why.

Dial forward about a year later, Chef Vivian Howard has released her first cookbook titled "Deep Run Roots". And not only that, she was coming for a book signing at a bookstore out in one of the Chicagoland suburbs. We signed up for it and got a copy of the book and a meet and greet with her.

She was as genuine and pleasant in person as she was on her show. And oh, I wore a "Chef & The Farmer" t-shirt that I bought at the restaurant to the book-signing. It was a great evening. It was almost like a "A Chef's Life" fan convention while we were standing in line waiting for our turn to meet her.

The good news is that we will be dining at "Chef & The Farmer" once more in a couple of weeks. We are scheduled for a trip to that part of the country, and have already made our reservation. This will be good because their menu changes often and is quite seasonal. We were there at late fall the first time, and now we will be there in mid Spring this time. I will be curious to see different items on the menu (I'm seriously hoping for turnip run-ups!), and also how the new Chef de Cuisine that has been running the kitchen since the end of Season 4 of the show is working out.

And if we have time, while we are in that part of the country, we might try Piedmont restaurant in Durham, NC. This is where "Chef & the Farmer" former sous chef John May is now the executive chef. It sounds like this restaurant is a tailor-made fit for him.

Yup, this upcoming trip will be all about the food!

Zz.