Vivian Howard, executive chef and co-owner of Chef and the Farmer restaurant in Kinston, received three James Beard Award nominations last week for her PBS series A Chef’s Life. Howard’s North Carolina-based program was nominated in the foundation’s broadcast media category for the following: Best Television Program-On Location; Visual and Technical Excellence; and Outstanding Personality/Host.

A Chef’s Life, now in its second season, is a half-hour character-driven documentary and cooking series that takes viewers inside the life of chef Howard as she explores Southern cuisine. It is a celebration of true farm-to-table food, combining all the action and drama of a high-pressure business with the joys and stresses of family life in the rural South, according to the show’s website.

This is not Howard’s first nod from the foundation. She was a James Beard Foundation Best Chef Southeast semi-finalist in both 2012 and 2014.

A cookbook author and teacher, James Beard was anointed the “Dean of American cookery” by the New York Times in 1954. He helped to lay the groundwork for culinary education and food programing as we know it today. The foundation’s mission is to celebrate, nurture and honor America's diverse culinary heritage through programs that educate and inspire.

The Foundation’s book, broadcast and journalism awards dinner will take place April 24 in New York City. 2015 marks the 25th anniversary of the James Beard Foundation Awards.

Although she’s based in Kinston, Howard is no stranger to the Port City. Last June, a WILMA story covered her guest chef spot at a Wilmington fundraising dinner hosted by manna. Proceeds from the event were used to complete a documentary about Wolfram syndrome, a rare genetic disease.

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