The last episode of “A Chef’s Life” has been recorded. I’ve been a loyal follower since the PBS series began. DVDs are available, however, for any shows you might have missed. They make great gifts, too. A new program, with hourlong segments nationally scheduled in prime time, is in the works.
Kinston, once vibrant, had been cast into the doldrums by various financial developments, especially the collapse of tobacco. But the nationally distributed “A Chef’s Life” turned the town into a foodie destination. Chef Vivian Howard and her husband, Ben (an artist in addition to restaurant entrepreneur), subsequently parlayed the success of their first restaurant, initiated with the backing of her parents, into another casual place in Kinston, The Boiler Room, then Benny’s Big Time pizzeria in Wilmington.
Howard has been a James Beard finalist four times for Best Chef in the Southeast. She won last year for Best Television Personality.
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I tried to go to the Chef and the Farmer in its early days (the restaurant opened in 2006) but was never able to get a reservation on a weekend. When I was invited to speak to the Kinston Rotary Club a couple of years ago, members intervened on my behalf and secured seats for my wife and me. Reservations these days are more readily available, especially on weeknights.
Hard surfaces throughout the interior exacerbate volume. But they are attractive hard surfaces, with multicolored plank floors and brick walls, in a historic downtown Kinston building. I like looking into the open kitchen, and seats along that wall allow full view. On the other hand, a lot of the volume comes from the kitchen line itself, as the expediter calls out orders to the cooks. I know that’s standard practice, but there has to be a better way.
Each section has a lead server, who is well-versed in the menu. Runners deliver orders at an appropriate pace, describing ingredients and preparations in just enough detail to be interesting without straying into pretentiousness. The wait staff is usually observant, replacing silverware with each course and refilling glasses as appropriate, but a second-course wine order did not arrive until the food was almost all consumed.
The wine list mixes the familiar with the boutique. A sommelier is available to make suggestions, and small tastes of selections by the glass are available to help you make an informed choice. This turned out to be a restaurant that is easy to enjoy in spite of its fame.
On that first occasion, we started with fried okra, delightfully tender, crisp within a light, almost tempura-style treatment, enhanced with ranch ice cream. Let the ice cream melt, and you have one of the best ranch dressings I’ve ever tasted. Dab it on cold, and you get an entertaining interplay of temperatures and textures.
Fried green tomatoes were coated with benne seeds (an heirloom variation on sesame seeds) and scattered with goat cheese and tart, green strawberry chutney. Slow-cooked grits, ladled with gumbo interspersed with andouille sausage and shrimp from Pamlico Sound, were served in a hot iron skillet. Too solid to be a soup or stew, this burst with robust flavors!
Charred green beans were scattered with lamb ham, mellow and smoky, plus grilled onions. I could eat these all night. So could my wife, and it is a rare occasion when a kitchen cooks green beans done enough for her but firm enough for me.
In a trout entree, the whole fish cavity had been stuffed with sliced lemon and herbs, then roasted in a wood-burning oven. Pulling the flesh away from the bone was fairly easy, given the tenderness of the fish and the intact spine and ribs. The flavor was light and pure, infused with the lemon and herbs, complemented with pecan vinaigrette, presented over pink lady peas and mustard greens, with sliced muscadine grapes, lightly charred, strung alongside. Visually attractive and imminently fresh.
We returned this June, after Daylight Savings Time started. If you make an early reservation in conjunction with a trip to the coast, it’s possible to get back, at least to the Crystal Coast area, before dark.
First courses this time consisted of vegetable preparations. Flash fried collards, hot and crisp, were dusted with sea salt. You eat them with your fingers like potato chips. Although thin and delicate, they are quite tasty. Guilford Mill grits were served in a hot iron skillet, joined by pimiento cheese, fried green tomatoes and crisp ham chips, yielding abundant flavor.
Fresh mint leaves garnished charred carrots with peanut butter, raisins, carrot-top pesto and fried peanuts. I loved the interplay of al dente carrots and crisp nuts with soft raisins. Bacon aioli enhanced roasted sweet potato, with pickled onion and toasted benne seeds. Bacon and sweet potatoes — could there ever be a more harmonious relationship?
Neighbor Vicki ordered the catch of the day, North Carolina grouper, blessed with watercress aioli, joined on the plate by red potatoes, charred zucchini and squash, plus squash pickles. The vegetables validated the restaurant’s farm-oriented concept, and I would add that the flavor of the fish itself was unusually pure and fresh, the aioli adding a light augmentation that served rather than obscured.
A vegetarian entree, Carolina grain risotto, yielded complex flavors from mushroom conserva, sugar snap peas, caramelized onions, pickled radish, almonds and parsley salad.
Pork lau lau grew out of a trip Howard made to Hawaii. Pork shoulder is wrapped in collards, then braised in cabbage soup with coconut milk and garnished with strawberry salsa. The pork, lean and tender, exuded classic eastern North Carolina smoky flavor with an appropriate heat kick, one of the most flavorful pork dishes I’ve ever had — colorful and vibrant.
We shared one dessert: salted caramel chocolate cake, which rested on a thick paintbrush swatch of dark chocolate, a striking presentation, its flavor enhanced by chocolate milk crumbs and salted caramel frosting. A masterpiece!
Other restaurants have implemented the concept of farm partnerships with ingredients sourced nearby, but the Chef and the Farmer does it with exceptional focus and creativity. Most restaurant chefs design a menu and then buy ingredients to fit it. Howard buys whatever local ingredients are available, then creates a menu around them. That freshness is evident in every bite.
I did not assign a numerical rating because my visits occurred too far apart in time. But I would advise that the Chef and the Farmer is absolutely worth a special trip. I consider it one of the best restaurants in the state.
John Batchelor has been reviewing restaurants for 30 years. His reviews appear the first Thursday of the month. Contact him at john.e.batchelor@gmail.com.