Vivian Howard is an award-winning cookbook author, tv personality, chef and restaurateur. Her first cookbook, Deep Run Roots, is a New York Times bestseller and was named “Cookbook of the Year” by the IACP. She created and stars in public television shows Somewhere South and A Chef’s Life, for which she has won Peabody, Emmy and James Beard awards. Vivian runs the restaurants Chef & the Farmer in Kinston, NC; and Handy & Hot and Lenoir, both in Charleston, SC. In October 2020, Vivian released her second cookbook, This Will Make It Taste Good: A New Path to Simple Cooking. In 2022, Vivian launched Viv’s Fridge – a network of attendentless, smart-refrigerators stocked with next-level prepared meals from her kitchen at Chef and the Farmer. She is currently working on opening The Counter, a casual concept within Chef & the Farmer, in Kinston, NC.