{"id":7662,"date":"2014-04-09T13:23:25","date_gmt":"2014-04-09T18:23:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/college.unc.edu\/?p=7662"},"modified":"2024-07-02T14:37:09","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T14:37:09","slug":"chefslife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=7662","title":{"rendered":"UNC historian is co-producer of Peabody Award-winning PBS show, \u2018A Chef\u2019s Life\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"From<\/a>
From left, Malinda Maynor Lowery, Cynthia Hill and Un Kyong Ho (associate producer on ‘Private Violence’ and ‘A Chef’s Life’) at the Sundance Film Festival.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cherokee purple tomatoes smothered in smoked corn aioli on homemade sweet potato onion bread.<\/p>\n

This gourmet locavore sandwich, brainchild of Chef Vivian Howard of the Kinston, N.C.-based restaurant Chef and the Farmer<\/a>, was named a top 10 dish of the year in Garden & Gun magazine.<\/p>\n

But if you ask UNC historian and native North Carolinian Malinda Maynor Lowery<\/a> what her favorite dish is at the farm-to-table restaurant, she cites the blueberry barbecue pork belly skewers.<\/p>\n

Such are the contemporary Southern choices presented at the restaurant that is the focus of the wildly popularly PBS series, \u201cA Chef\u2019s Life<\/a>.\u201d The reality\/cooking show just won a Peabody Award<\/a>, one of the premier honors in broadcast journalism. It\u2019s also a finalist for a James Beard Foundation award, another top honor.<\/p>\n

\"Malinda<\/a>
Malinda Maynor Lowery directs UNC’s Southern Oral History Program.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lowery serves as the show\u2019s co-producer. UNC alumna Cynthia Hill (pharmacy \u201993) is producer and director. Lowery heads the Southern Oral History Program<\/a> in UNC\u2019s College of Arts and Sciences, and she also has a background in documentary filmmaking.<\/p>\n

Hill, the director, and Howard, the chef, grew up together in Kinston. Lowery and Hill have been friends for about 15 years and worked together most recently on a documentary on domestic violence called \u201cPrivate Violence,\u201d which was shown at the Sundance and Full Frame film festivals and will be broadcast on HBO.<\/p>\n

Viewers have been drawn to the authenticity of \u201cA Chef\u2019s Life,\u201d Lowery said. Howard is the child of tobacco and hog farmers. After she and her husband, Ben Knight, left New York City to open the restaurant in Kinston, they developed strong relationships with local farmers. Chef and the Farmer sources 70 percent of its menu from within 60 miles.<\/p>\n

\"Chef<\/a>
Chef Vivian Howard ( photo courtesy of Markay Media).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cBoth \u2018Private Violence\u2019 and \u2018A Chef\u2019s Life\u2019 resonate with what we do in the Southern Oral History Program in telling people\u2019s stories,\u201d Lowery said. \u201c\u2018A Chef\u2019s Life\u2019 focuses on Southern culture and history and food as a way to access those things.\u201d<\/p>\n

As co-producer, Lowery has had the largest impact on developing the show\u2019s outreach strategy. She does a lot of writing related to the show \u2014 grant proposals, web content<\/a>, e-mails to partners and collaborators, publicity materials and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cSocial media has been incredibly important,\u201d she said. \u201cWe work as a team to create posts and to cultivate the audience and give them things they can act on in their own lives. One of the things I\u2019m most proud of is a map that provides people with locations of local farmers so they can purchase the ingredients that they see on the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lowery calls both the PBS show and the restaurant \u201can incredibly important economic development resource for eastern North Carolina.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe local food movement is significant in North Carolina, and the brilliance of this show is that it provides a storytelling vehicle for that,\u201d she added. \u201cVivian has managed to convince people that buying local is in their<\/i> best interest, not in somebody<\/i> else\u2019s<\/i> best interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first season is over, but local viewers can watch the series online or watch re-broadcasts of the show on the EX channel Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. or on UNC-TV Sundays at 1 p.m.<\/p>\n

Filming for season two is under way, with new episodes set to launch in September. For fans, Lowery promises some surprises in the lineup, like a one-hour holiday special, \u201cwhere Vivian will introduce us to a variety of recipes, old and new, and we\u2019ll feature the stress of the restaurant season as it overlaps with the holiday season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lowery said working on the show has been \u201cdeeply satisfying.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy own life experience and my academic experience have helped me to [value] the need and importance of people understanding their own communities,\u201d she said. \u201cThe show portrays the rich and diverse culture of the South and all that means.\u201d<\/p>\n

[By Kim Weaver Spurr \u201888]<\/p>\n

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Historian Malinda Maynor Lowery is a part of the team that produces ‘A Chef’s Life,’ an award-winning PBS show based on a farm-to-fork restaurant, Chef and the Farmer, in Kinston, N.C. 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