Why open a fine-dining restaurant in Kinston?
I’m from Kinston, and my background is more fine-dining. When my husband, Ben, and I worked in New York, we had a catering business and specialized in soups. It was called Viv’s Kitchen. We made weekly deliveries and also did soups for some coffee shops. That’s actually what we had planned on coming back and opening—a soup and sandwich shop. But everyone in Kinston said it needs a nicer restaurant where people can have a nice meal and a glass of wine. What’s on your menu and where does the food come from? My menu changes every week. Not everything transitions, but it’s constantly evolving. It’s extremely seasonal. I work with about eight or nine farmers and we work on the ingredients we want to source and the degree of ripeness. So I work on a very hands-on level in that respect. . . . The name “Chef and the Farmer” reflects our relationship at the restaurant with local niche produce farmers. We source about 70 percent of our ingredients from within 30 miles of the restaurant. Where do
