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A Chef's Life
Sweet Corn & Expensive Tea
Season 1
Episode 1
Chef Vivian Howard and her husband Ben leave New York to open a restaurant in her small North Carolina hometown. Vivian revisits the Southern tradition of “putting up” corn and shares her method for making smoked corn relish. As the episode concludes, a devastating setback threatens their new life.
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24:40
Vivian and the restaurant go wild over ramps, after a winter of few fresh vegetables.
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24:40
As Vivian waits for Spring’s vegetables to appear, the new best-seller is a whole chicken.
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24:40
Vivian finds “run-up” turnip greens, which are central to her approach to southern food.
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24:40
Fun Summer vegetables are long gone, so Vivian looks to liven up the unglamorous turnip.
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24:40
November has arrived and the restaurant is busy. Vivian feels the stress at work and home.
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24:40
Vivian presents a few of the many ways fish makes its appearance in Southern cooking.
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24:40
Vivian returns from her road trip and confronts her long absence from the restaurant.
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24:40
Vivian almost reaches her breaking point, but everyone pulls together for the big event.
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24:40
Vivian undertakes mammoth preparations for her huge Souther Foodways Alliance luncheon.
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24:40
Vivian and Ben face challenges on the cusp of opening a new restaurant, the Boiler Room.
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24:40
A family beach trip turns competitive for Vivian and her sisters.
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24:40
A year after overcoming a devastating fire, Vivian and Ben go all-in on a 2nd restaurant.