Long gone are the days when ordering a vegetarian dish brought the expectation of a dull looking plate with steamed veggies on it, or the common salad bowl with nothing but lettuce and radish. In today’s world, life expectancy has forced people into a healthy lifestyle. It starts with diet. These stereotypical images have long been dumped into the dustbin of history and have been replaced with exotic restaurants which mainly deal with organic, vegan and vegetarian menus. These menus are a combination of fresh local ingredients, witty food combinations, top notch preparations and what is left I can leave it to your imagination.
Chef and the farmer is one such restaurant. It has been a jewel in the state of northern Carolina. Located in the Kinston town, it has managed to draw customers from all over the state. Chef Vivian Howard is in charge of all the delicacies made as well as co-owner together with her husband . She was born in Deep Run, NC to parents who grew tobacco and rare hogs for a living. It was a setting that helped her appreciate the change of eating with farming seasons. But It was not until 23 years later that she found a position as a server that her passion took over. With this, she began training under Scott Barton, the restaurant’s chef. She advanced her skill set later on by learning from Wylie Dufresne, a cutting edge creative chef and Sam Mason at WD-50. This propelled her, and she became part of the opening team at Spice Market, which was owned by Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
It was when they moved with her husband is she decide to open a restaurant in 2005. She attributes her practice’s success to the fifteen farms that lie within a sixty mile radius. Which supplies her with seventy percent of her ingredients. Together with changing her menu on a weekly basis, serving dishes that surprise not only her customers, but even herself at times.
Works Cited
"16 Vegetarian, Vegan and Organic local food haunts | More Gold Coast." More Gold Coast. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2014. <http://www.moregoldcoast.com.au/vegetarian-vegan-organic-food/>.
"Chef Vivian Howard." – Chef & the Farmer. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2014. <http://chefandthefarmer.com/about/chef-vivian-howard/>.
"Dining Out." Oakland Veg. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2014. <http://oaklandveg.com/resources/dining-out/>.
