Stream now with KPBS Passport on KPBS+ / Watch Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on CREATE
This holiday season, the popular series A CHEF’S LIFE invites viewers on a journey to discover and rediscover holiday traditions with a one-hour documentary "A Chef’s Life Holiday Special."
Chef Vivian Howard hosts a holiday to remember at her home in Eastern North Carolina as she creates a Southern holiday feast steeped in her family’s Christmas and Chanukah traditions.
Having spent most of her adult life in the kitchens of highly-lauded restaurants, Vivian has rarely celebrated the holidays during busy Decembers.
This year, she and her husband Ben Knight are determined to give their toddler twins a traditional holiday experience, cooking, laughing, and yes, crying their way through Southern traditions new and old.
Vivian discovers that mistletoe is traditionally shot out of a pecan tree, experiences her first hog killing, and leads a “tacky Christmas sweater” night with the restaurant staff at Chef and the Farmer restaurant.
This is television you can virtually taste, complete with culinary expert friends and family stopping by to help Vivian with her feast. Chef Scott Barton (Voyage), Vivian’s mentor and an expert on Southern food, shows her how to prepare Hoppin’ John, and North Carolina’s Bill Smith (Crook’s Corner) shares his secrets for his world famous corned ham.
Vivian recreates her childhood memories as she bakes red velvet cake with her sister and celebrates the first night of Chanukah with Ben’s family, making traditional foods and lighting the menorah.
Get the recipes for:
- Ambrosia
- Date, Pecan and Bacon Cheese Ball with Curried Peach Preserves
- Candied Yams with Bacon Pecan Syrup
- Old Timey Applejacks
- Red Velvet Cake
- Corned Ham
- Hoppin’ John
About The Series: More than a cooking show, A CHEF’S LIFE is a character-driven documentary series that takes viewers inside the life and kitchen of chef Vivian Howard. Howard originally made a name for herself in the competitive Manhattan restaurant world, before she and her husband Benjamin Knight moved back to her home of Eastern Northern Carolina to open their own restaurant.
Watch On Your Schedule: KPBS+ is a new free streaming video app designed for ease and enjoyment everywhere you watch including Roku, smart TVs and mobile devices. It’s locally curated for San Diego by the KPBS programming team. With a clean and intuitive design, discovering and enjoying KPBS and PBS content on-demand has never been easier.
You can also tune in live to watch our four TV channels in real time: KPBS, KPBS 2, Create, KPBS Kids 24/7. We also added a new channel - FNX (First Nation Experience).
Your KPBS Passport member benefit works on KPBS+ too! You’ll have access to even more great shows when you simply log in with your KPBS Passport account.
Credits: A CHEF'S LIFE is produced by Markay Media in association with SCETV Presents. The series is directed and produced by Cynthia Hill with Rex Miller as co-producer and cinematographer. Derek Britt is the Executive Producer, and the series is edited by Tom Vickers. The opening title song, “Will You Return,” is written and performed by the Avett Brothers. Amy Shumaker is Executive-in-Charge for SCETV Presents.
