Reviews for Chef & the Farmer in Kinston, NC
Oh my goodness! What a delight to eat at Vivian Howard's restaurant. It surpassed our expectations by a mile! The ambiance,... presentations, flavors, variety and service was excellent (Susan snd others)! We were not sure about some of the reviews we readand almost cancelled our reservation but are so glad we went anyway! My partner said the pork chop was the best he had evereaten. He also raved about the basil infused gimlet. I found the Miso gingered collard greens and the marinated cucumber noodlesto be the highlight of the meal. I also LOVED the strawberry salad which had an amazing strawberry dressing. The 10 layerchocolate cake with vanilla chantilly cream was spectacular. Im not a fan of caramel but the rest of the dish was so good Iwould order it again. We shared the cake and are glad we did because there was plenty to satisfy. We are looking forward to ournext visit already as we live in upstate NY and only get this far south occasionally . Read more
My husband and I planned on visiting as part of our vacation. The whole experience was better than anything we anticipated. The... food was exceptional. The delicate balance of flavors is hard to put into words. We were shown around the beautiful restaurantby our wonderful hostess, Kristen.Thank you for the calas. They were delicious, of course. Being fans of the show, it was extrafun to see everything in person. I highly recommend this restaurant for the quality of food, warm welcome from all the staff,and beautiful setting. Looking forward to when we can return. Read more
My wife and I have been watching Vivian's PBS shows recently. I decided to bring her for an early Birthday present. Never had... Collards before but based on the many reviews I've read we tried the Flash Fried Collards. They were fantastic. We had the NYStrip and Chicken Confit. Both were delicious. Brown butter mash as a side was really good. For dessert we had the Carrot cake.I love Carrot cake and this one didn't disappoint. Not the typical heavy frosting ladder Carrot cake. It was very light and hada slight mocha flavor that was a pleasant surprise. The staff was very pleasant and helpful especially our waitress Kashia. Shewas there when we needed her and handled everything beautifully. Read more
What an awesome experience! My wife and I discovered Chef Vivian and this restaurant years ago when her PBS show "A Chef's Life"... premiered and at the time we were living in CA but we had always told ourself we would stop by and eat here if we evervacationed nearby. Fast forward to today where we now live in OH so during our weekend getaway to North Carolina we finally gotto try it! Service was amazing, food was full of flavor and the menu had plenty of new and interesting things to try. We hadthe corn bread and meat & cheese tray for starters, my wife ordered the confit chicken, and I ordered the blackened salmon. Weloved every bit of it and are so glad we finally got to check this one off the list! Read more
Oh my..!!! A dream of mine to be here. Came from OKC just to be here! Sad that it didn't look like her show. Sad she wasn't... there. The charcuterie plate was wonderful! The fried greens, excellent! We had the pork chop and chicken thigh. Oh so yummy!Wine selection was awesome. Waitstaff was wonderful ???? ? Sigh . I ate at Vivian Howard's restaurant ???? Read more
Stopped in for a meal with the family on my daughter's 21st birthday from Raleigh. The experience was wonderful. The waiter and... staff are very friendly and knowledgeable, though the waiter did not catch my Ribeye order and instead brought me a New YorkStrip, regardless, the food was amazing. We had the flash fried collards, the cheese bread, a few libations, and our main coursewith brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes. We also splurged for dessert. The floor plan has changed quite a bit since our lastvisit, but was quite nice. If you're in the Kinston, NC area, stop by and see what Vivian has done with the place. You won't bedisappointed. Read more
Chef & the Farmer did not disappoint again! This place lives up to the Vivian Howard hype. All the seasonal items we tried from... the meat and cheese platter to the sweet potato biscuits were absolutely delicious. The chicken parmigiana was sous vide thenspread and battered before being fried - very deliciously tender meal! The NC trout, NY strip steak and the pork chop were alsoamazing and cooked to perfection. The beef lasagna is another unique dish that I recommend trying. Also, their wine and cocktaillist is vast and their bar tenders take their drinks to the next level. To top off the excellent ambience the service is topnotch which creates a a culinary environment conducive to all sorts of events! I highly recommend the Chef and the Farmerexperience. Side note, while waiting for your table visit Mother Earth brewery. Read more
The restaurant gets how to restaurant. Everything about my experience here; from service to food was beyond expectations. The... menu is kept simple to survey the right ingredients to the right taste profiles. I was thrilled with the custom cocktail menu.My choice was the cherry old fashioned. I had the lasagna as my entree and loved every bite. They allow for plenty of time toeat and socialize despite being quite busy. The space upstairs can get a bit noisy when busy but it wasn't distracting. Read more