This is a blog of my five-week exploration of culinary experiences in North Carolina. Baaswell Sheep is accompanying me and offering his own commentary on the trip, although he refuses to go into any place that serves lamb chops.
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The culinary climax of our trip is arriving in Kinston today, home of "Chef and the Farmer", the restaurant of award winning chef Vivian Howard who has had not one but two PBS television series ("A Chef's Life" and "Somewhere South"). Chef and the Farmer is only open Thursday through Sunday, so we won't get there until tomorrow, but we're hoping to visit three times before we leave so we can sample several of her dishes.
Vivian's childhood home and current home is in Deep Run, North Carolina, about twelve miles from Kinston (hense the name of her first cookbook, "Deep Run Roots"), so it seemed appropriate to stop there first and see what it looks like. We'd seen an indication of this restaurant on the map, so we tracked it down, but were a little disappointed. The food was okay, but we'd been expecting some quaint place that had been around for thirty or more years in a similarly aged building. Instead, the restaurant was in the end of a small strip shopping center likely built in the last ten years. We'd also assumed it would have some meat and vegetable entrees, but it was just a sandwich and salad shop. My companion liked the chicken salad but the broccoli salad side lacked flavor, though in fairness we're used to broccoli salads made with a vinegarette dressing, and this one was simply mayonnaise based. And sorry, no outside picture for this one – when we got there the thermometer in the car was registering 103 degrees outside!
We spotted this place near our hotel and went over to it for dinner. It's a classic 50's style diner inside with pale blue and pink seats and plenty of decor on the walls. As we ate, we stared at a picture of Marilyn Monroe directly in front of us, and I kept hearing Elton John's Candle in the Wind in my head. (For those who don't know, his original version of that song was about Marilyn's death – he later rewrote it as a tribute to Princess Diana after she died.) The food here was nice and classic, with a twist. My companion got the "Carolina Classic Burger" that comes with onions, mustard, cheese, chili and slaw – kind of like combining a chili dog and a regular hamburger. Can't say we've ever seen that one before, but it was good. Turns out the place is an eastern North Carolina chain with a couple dozen or more locations, but that isn't always a bad thing.
Please note that all restaurant and product names are used simply for referential purposes and links provided as a courtesy. Reviews are the sole opinions of the reviewer: no restaurant has paid to be listed here, and no restaurant is being explicitly endorsed. In other words, go out there, try them all, and form your own opinions!
Vivian's childhood home and current home is in Deep Run, North Carolina, about twelve miles from Kinston (hense the name of her first cookbook, "Deep Run Roots"), so it seemed appropriate to stop there first and see what it looks like. We'd seen an indication of this restaurant on the map, so we tracked it down, but were a little disappointed. The food was okay, but we'd been expecting some quaint place that had been around for thirty or more years in a similarly aged building. Instead, the restaurant was in the end of a small strip shopping center likely built in the last ten years. We'd also assumed it would have some meat and vegetable entrees, but it was just a sandwich and salad shop. My companion liked the chicken salad but the broccoli salad side lacked flavor, though in fairness we're used to broccoli salads made with a vinegarette dressing, and this one was simply mayonnaise based. And sorry, no outside picture for this one – when we got there the thermometer in the car was registering 103 degrees outside!
