Vivian Howard

Writing a description of yourself is really hard. But under instruction to list the things that make me, me - I’d have to say I’m a two-time author whose young adult self dreamt of being a writer. I’m the mother of a twin boy and girl who once doubted her maternal instincts. I’m a chef who cooks for therapy. I’m a lucky daughter who counts her parents among her friends. And I’m a television personality who can’t bear to look at herself in pictures. My greatest strengths are fearlessness, creativity, enthusiasm and humor. My most frustrating weaknesses are patience, organization and numbers. 

I always thought winning awards was for someone else but I’m happy to say there have been a few folks out there who thought I was worthy of some awards over the years.

If you’re looking for more official bio of sorts, here you go:

Vivian Howard is an award-winning cookbook author, tv personality, chef and restaurateur. Her first cookbook, Deep Run Roots: Stories & Recipes from My Corner of the South (2016), is a New York Times bestseller and was named “Cookbook of the Year” by the International Association of Culinary Professionals. 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 in Charleston, SC. In October 2020, Vivian released her second cookbook, This Will Make It Taste Good: A New Path to Simple Cooking.