A Chef's Life facts for kids

A Chef's Life was a cool American TV show about cooking and food. It was like a documentary, showing real life behind the scenes. The show was created by Cynthia Hill and Vivian Howard. It was shown on PBS, a public TV channel. The first episode aired on September 7, 2013, and the very last one was on October 22, 2018.

The show was mostly filmed at a restaurant called Chef & The Farmer in Kinston, North Carolina. Vivian Howard is the main chef there, and her husband, Ben Knight, helps manage the place. They own it together! The show had five seasons, with many half-hour episodes, and a special longer episode for the finale.

Both Cynthia Hill and Vivian Howard grew up in Lenoir County, North Carolina. Cynthia was from Pink Hill, and Vivian was from Deep Run. Vivian and Cynthia's younger sister were friends when they were kids. Both Cynthia and Vivian left their small hometowns but later came back. Vivian returned to open her restaurant, Chef & the Farmer. Cynthia came back to tell stories about the South. Cynthia said her films are about things she can see "from my own backyard."

The show won some awesome awards! It received a Peabody Award on April 2, 2014. It also won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Culinary Program on April 26, 2018. A Chef's Life was also nominated for other Daytime Emmys, like for best host and best directing. It was also a finalist for a James Beard broadcast award.

Vivian Howard is now working on a new show for PBS called South By Somewhere. It will have six hour-long episodes. This new show will continue to feature Kinston and the Southern United States.

How the Show Was Made

A Chef's Life was made by Markay Media, working with South Carolina ETV. Cynthia Hill was the director and producer. Rex Miller was the director of photography and also a co-producer. Vivian Howard helped write and produce the show. Tom Vickers was the editor. Amy Shumaker was in charge for SCETV. The show was a project of the Southern Documentary Fund. The show's theme song, Will You Return?, was written and performed by Avett Brothers from North Carolina. It's from their 2007 album, Emotionalism.

By 2015, the show was broadcast in almost all of the United States. Each episode had about 2.5 million viewers, which is a lot of people watching!

Series Finale

The very last episode of A Chef's Life was a special called The Final Harvest. It aired on October 22, 2018.