Everybody in the other one thread on this topic hates it. It took me awhile to get into it.
I love the way she is seeking out the hard working unsung local farmers doing their thing and learning from them. She then creates a menu from the unique product, with her husband b*tching all the way to his wine bar.
She is very creative with the menu and most of the stuff looks appetizing.
I love the show also...don't understand the criticism on the other thread. To each his own.
Vivian is a unique presence. She is certainly prickly, but is also wildly creative and deeply caring about her family, customers and craft. She is also very bright, and articulate, and that makes for some really interesting television.
shareI agree with you and don't get the hate either. If she was as nasty, as lousy a cook, as all around horrible as people are claiming on the other thread she wouldn't still be in business. And her restaurant has been open since 2006, despite it being in a little town. She must be doing something right.
If you can't be a good example -- then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.
I live in eastern NC and eat at Chef and the Farmer several times a year. I don't know Vivian or Ben personally, but I can say that their restaurant is first-class -- I've been to most of the major Southern farm-to-table restaurants (as well as many serious restaurants all over the world), and in that category I'd rate it as second only to Husk in Charleston. So yes, they're doing something right. Y'all should make a trip down here to check it out.
As for how Vivian and Ben are depicted in the show: you can tell that the producer tries to play up the moments of conflict, in an effort to make everyday life running a business in a small town seem interesting. Ben, especially, gets framed as the bad guy, a lot of the time. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do for TV, I guess; I'm sure all of us would look b!t¢hy too, if somebody cherry-picked those moments from our lives.