Over the last several years, Vivian Howard has used her cooking skills to build a career in TV. Howard is best-known for her cooking show, A Chef’s Life, which aired from 2013 to 2018. In addition to her impressive cooking skills, Vivian’s warm personality has made her popular among food enthusiasts everywhere. Now Vivian is back on TV in her new show, Somewhere South. On this show, Vivian will give viewers a closer look into some of the best dishes the south has to offer. Keep reading for 10 things you didn’t know about Vivian Howard.
1. Cooking Is Her Therapy
Different chefs cook for different reasons. For some people, cooking is a way to show love to those around them. For others, it’s simply something they enjoy doing because they’re good at. In Vivian Howard’s case, cooking her her form of therapy. It provides a way to her to relax, release, and recharge.
2. She Has Twins
On her website, Vivian admits that before having kids she didn’t know if they had maternal instincts. However, that all changed when she welcomed her twins into the world. Vivian is a proud mom who enjoys spending as much time as possible with her son and daughter.
3. She Lives Near The House She Grew Up In
Vivian Howard was born and raised in a town called Deep Run, North Carolina. Although she moved to New York and planned to stay there, she ultimately decided to move back to North Carolina. She’s currently back in Deep Run living in a house that’s not too far from the one she grew up in.
4. She Considers Herself A Storyteller
Although Vivian loves to cook, she didn’t always see herself becoming a chef. Instead, she always thought of herself as a storyteller who spent much her childhood creating entertaining stories. As a chef, she tries to incorporate this idea of storytelling into the food she makes. She says, “I believe in cooking food that has a story behind it and integrity to it–food with a very specific sense of place and that people want to eat.” In 2016, she released her first book, Deep Run Roots.
5. She Used To Work In Advertising
When Vivian Howard moved to New York after college, she had a job working for an advertising agency called Grey. Her original plan was to continue to pursue a career in advertising, but she eventually realized that she wanted to do something else.
6. She Grew Up Eating Vegetable Based Food
The American south is known for all sorts of meat based dishes, but Vivian grew up eating something a little different. She told Food 52 that as a child she ate “Very simple, vegetable-based food: corn, butter beans, lots of preserved pickles, lots of pork — until I came along, my family had hog killings every fall. In fall and winter, it’s really about making use of those 2 pigs they foddered. Lots of cornbread, lots of sweet potatoes baked in their jackets.”
7. She’s The Youngest Of Four
Being the youngest sibling isn’t always easy, especially when there are three others ahead of you. However, Vivian Howard appreciates her place as the youngest in the family. Vivian considers herself a family oriented person and maintains drop relationships with her sisters and parents.
8. She Didn’t Grow Up Watching Julia Child
Julia Child is one of the most-well known TV chefs of all time. Many of today’s chefs have a story about how seeing Julia on TV impacted their lives in some way. Vivian, on the other day, did not grow up watching Julia Child. In an interview with KLCS, she said, “I’ve always been embarrassed to say that I did not grow up watching Julia Child. God, I wish I could say that I have strong memories related to that. But, my Julia Child story is that I really loved the movie Julie and Julia.
9. She Loves Grand Central Market In Los Angeles
As you can probably imagine, Vivian Howard gets asked for restaurant recommendations all the time. One city in particular that people are always asking her about is Los Angeles. Vivian says her favorite place to get food in the L.A. area is Grand Central Market.
10. She Doesn’t Like Watching Herself On TV
If there’s one thing that can make Vivian Howard cringe, it’s seeing herself on TV. Before the 5th season of A Chef’s Life, Vivian said, “I hate watching the show and seeing how tired I am, how I wish I had worn something different, or why I haven’t learned after five years of being on TV to get somebody to help me look better. But those are feelings I’m more comfortable with than I used to be.”
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