Vivian Howard to launch third network series this month.
Yes, chef! On the heels of her uberpopular TV run, NC-bred celeb chef and author Vivian Howard—known for A Chef’s Life and Somewhere South—is cooking up a new show, launching Oct. 6 on PBS.
Created for curious home cooks and kitchen connoisseurs alike, the aptly named Kitchen Curious series dives into pressing everyday questions we all face when it comes to food and cooking. And, no, this isn’t half-baked info you’d scroll past on TikTok.
“You’re not learning from a number of voices like on social media,” maintains the restaurateur, who also owns The Counter @ Chef & the Farmer in Kinston, Lenoir and Handy & Hot in Charleston, and Theodosia in OBX. “It was really important to me to have this information be trustworthy and rooted in science. … I want the show to clear out the clutter of misinformation as it relates to our kitchens.”
Courtesy of Vivian Howard
Each ep tackles a culinary theme in three bites: quick cooking demos, a grocery run with a nutritionist and a field trip tied to the topic. While most of the action was filmed in Charleston and Eastern NC, Howard hints at a surprise location that ended up stealing her heart.
Topics jump from rice and beans as a complete protein (yep, there’s a science to it) to hacks for using your freezer like a kitchen superhero—plus spotlights on cast iron pans, pasta, fats and seed oils. And Howard promises some takeaways that will surprise —and even relieve—you by cutting through the kitchen myths.
“I’m learning too,” she adds. “One of the things I really enjoyed about early seasons of A Chef’s Life and all of Somewhere South is that I got to be a student. Watching me fumble with these ideas—for one it’s fun, but it’s also approachable.” Consider it a full-course binge.
Kitchen Queen Vivian Howard is also set to serve up prepared food a la Viv’s Fridge (sans the fridge) at Anthony Guerra’s new St. Pierre wine shop + bar at Raleigh Iron Works. “I’ve always been a big fan of Anthony’s,” she says, “and this is a safe way to dip our toes into the Triangle market.”
Raleigh restaurants are advancing their gluten-free game.
Turns out, crispy doesn’t need gluten to be glorious. Over a decade after Ashley Christensen hatched Beasley’s Chicken & Honey, the lauded DTR restaurant made a bold move with its star dish—swapping its famed fried chicken for a gluten-free version.
Born from an experiment with rice flour dredge, the “insanely delicious” upgrade is winning over diners—celiac or not. And while gluten-free fare is hardly new (Cary’s 2021-nee Hank’s Downtown Dive has served GF fried chicken since day one), it’s certainly a sign of the times.
What started as a 1940s celiac medical treatment has since morphed from a fad “weight-loss” diet into a $7 billion market with nearly a quarter of Americans now opting in—expected to double in the next decade. In Raleigh, those tiny “GF” menu symbols have moved from niche to norm across menus and grocery aisles.
For Christensen, though, it wasn’t about chasing a trend—it was about making fried chicken more inclusive without sacrificing flavor. After rave reviews at a pop-up, the James Beard Award-winning chef made the permanent swap.
“It was so exciting to be able to share something like fried chicken with an audience who typically isn’t able to enjoy it,” she says, recalling one diner at the pop-up who hadn’t had fried chicken in almost 10 years. “And it prompted us to look for other opportunities in our menu where we could make similar swaps that would be just as good, if not better, in flavor—but also open more access for folks with dietary restrictions.”
The response? Overwhelmingly positive, with even gluten-loving regulars declaring the new version better than the original. So, as gluten-free dining becomes more mainstream, Raleigh restaurants are proving even the smallest ingredient swap can make a big impact—both for flavor and for community. Now that’s finger-lickin’ good.
No Gluten, No Problem Gluten-free finds around Raleigh
Soaring high after Peregrine’s blockbuster debut, co-owner Patrick Shanahan—also of Watts & Ward fame—is having his moment. … And he’s only just getting started.
Dipping his toes back into the bar world, the painter, photographer, filmmaker and entrepreneur will unveil not one, but two new cocktail bars in partnership with longtime friend and fellow filmmaker Robby Opperman: Capulet Cocktail Club at The Exchange, and a new Japanese-American concept in the former Fox Liquor Bar space in DTR—with the beverage programs led by local mixologist Zack Thomas.
Building on the success of RM’s Best New Restaurant, Shanahan’s channeling his cinematic instincts into Capulet, set to debut Dec. 16. The name an ode to Romeo and Juliet’s Juliet Capulet, the romanticized space fuses Ancient Rome and modern disco, evoking themes of opulence and rich textures. Picture a deep red-tiled double horseshoe bar sitting underneath a soaring ~30-foot dome, rich jewel tones, velvet curtains, and antiques throughout, dotted with private booths, a fireplace and a small stage for live performances. Outside, a lush garden a la an Italian courtyard blooms with flowing fountains, Roman sculptures and its own bar.
From left: Patrick Shanahan, Zack Thomas, Robby Opperman| | Photo courtesy of Capulet Cocktail ClubFerdinand | Photo courtesy of Capulet Cocktail Club
“It’s almost as if you found a Roman ruin redecorated in the ’70s,” muses Shanahan… “an Italian fashion house hidden away in a garden for hundreds of years for people to stumble upon.”
Getting back to his filmmaking roots, the vario-medium storyteller approaches the project much like he would a movie—crafting a set through lighting, sound and design. “The nice thing about films is it’s a mix of all artistic styles in one place: music, visuals, art, fashion. All those have really inspired me.”
Cocktails at Capulet will lean Italian via a curated vino program, bottled beers, amaro-driven drinks and spritzes, plus a full European spirit selection. “I’m excited to get back into the world I know—the cocktail world,” emphasizes Shanahan.
Together with Peregrine, Capulet adds another destination to The Exchange—not to mention Midtown’s first bona fide cocktail bar. “I’m hearing what’s coming and I just want to be a part of that and help develop what this little section of Raleigh could be,” says Shanahan. “I’ve lived here my whole life, and having a little corner of Raleigh that I could really leave a mark on and do something special is exciting for me.”
Come early next year, the mastermind will also debut his DTR concept in the former Fox’s basement. Like a “cultural handshake,” the new bar blends shared artistic values of both Asian and American cultures—complete with a Japanese kissa (aka listening lounge), live-band karaoke, plus an extensive sake, whiskey and highball program.
Building off the basement’s bones Ashley Christensen laid, Shanahan’s design nods to the clean lines and natural materials of midcentury minimalism, with a bar top echoing furnituremaker George Nakashima’s work. “I’ve had so many good nights at Fox, and I’m honored to [take over] that spot,” he emphasizes. “When you walk down, you’ll be transported into a whole new realm.”
With two bold concepts on deck, the multihyphenate isn’t just expanding his footprint. He’s reshaping Raleigh’s bar scene—curating immersive worlds where storytelling takes center stage. Both are unmistakably Shanahan. And both will be impossible to resist.
How three locals navigate living and working car-free
If you thought you couldn’t get away with living in Raleigh car-free, think again. Even in the ’90s, a dedicated Quail Hollow professional faithfully took the CAT bus to and from his DTR Progress Energy post for a solid decade. But that dedication to a wheels-free low-footprint life is definitely rare for North Raleighites—especially in the 1900s—and easily the exception.
As a large central city, Raleigh takes the wheel as the most car-dependent major metro in the U.S. with 38 vehicle miles traveled (VMT) daily—and a walk score dipping as low as 18 in some burbs and averaging 31 in the city. The city is so reliant on cars that parking is at a premium and road construction is ongoing—or planned—for most major streets. While it may not yet be possible to change the tide citywide, it’s rolling differently Downtown.
Despite Raleigh’s carcentric sprawl, Downtown core’s respective walk, bike and transit scores of 82, 88 and 71 are perhaps a sign the city is evolving. And thanks to major strides in bikeability and Bus Rapid Transit—not to mention the influx of e-scooters and e-bikes—it’s keeping pace with cities like NYC and San Fran.
In fact, several residents have ditched their cars—saving time, money and a whole lot of stress in the process. We chatted with three locals living the “urban life” in Raleigh.
Intentional Living When local Ashton Mae Smith’s auto lease ended in 2019, it was a no-brainer not to renew. Having spent the last decade living within walking distance of her DTR office, she’s been in a one-car household with her husband and toddler ever since, spending the last six years walking, biking, scooting, bussing and ridesharing.
“I’m very intentional about choosing my doctors, exercise, son’s daycare and hobbies to be within walking distance,” says Smith, who adds she didn’t drive that much even before getting rid of her car. “That’s my preferred way to get around.”
After tracking her expenses over the years, she’s pocketed $5K a year just by skipping car ownership—savings that are reflected in her mental health as well. “Not having to think about a car is incredible,” she emphasizes. “There’s a lot of thinking about parking and is it gonna be safe and if you have something to drink do you leave it there overnight… all these things.”
Her toddler’s a fan too: “Half the adventure is riding the bus,” she says. It helps that kids ride free, tap-to-pay is seamless and their high-frequency line runs every 15 minutes.
Carless Confidence “It’s really not as hard as people think,” maintains Fayetteville Street resident Meg Crawford of her carless lifestyle. She ditched her car in San Francisco, and four-ish years after moving back to Raleigh, she’s still living that key-free life—thanks to remote work and easy access. “What’s great about Downtown,” she adds, “is it’s compact enough where you really have everything you need in a quick, easily walkable diameter. And public transportation obviously plays a role in that.”
Tapping into the tools at her fingertips, when walking won’t cut it, Crawford opts for her old triathlon bike, rideshare or even Turo—aka Airbnb for cars—which she’ll use for a jaunt to the beach or mountains. For her, the upside’s huge: She saves ~$1K a month while hitting up DTR events, cafes and restaurants on the regular—minus the hassle of traffic and parking headaches. To boot, she credits the walkable lifestyle with boosting her social life. “For me, it’s just pluses across the board,” she says. “I’m not sure I’ll ever fully own a vehicle again.”
Life Simplified For Raleigh Chamber VP of Leadership Development Shana Overdorf, the draw of DTR was about the strong community she expected to find. “But coming back Downtown meant sacrifice,” she admits—“and so when weighing my budget, the car was the first thing that could go.”
After making the move to Mira Raleigh in August 2024, she hung up her keys in January—a move she calls “freeing” and relatively easy, given her quick 471-step walk to work. While walking is her main mode, Overdorf taps into Raleigh’s full menu of options: scooters (her apartment has a few on hand), e-bikes, rideshares, carpools, the train—she’s even lined up for Raleigh’s E-Bike Rebate Program.
“I think the accessibility to different modes of transportation here—we’re really, very lucky,” emphasizes Overdorf. “It’s not that hard to figure out ways to have access to transit and transportation—but they’re also just easy to get to.” Doubling down on the community vibe, the Chamber VP reinvests her car-free savings by stacking up steps to faves like Sir Walter Coffee, The Bend, lucettegrace and A Place at the Table.
Walk Wins It’s all a sign of a city upping its urban appeal. While a current Village District dweller tells us she barely touches her keys more than once a week, another remembers feeling totally carbound just a decade ago.
Of course, it’s “not all rainbows and butterflies,” admits Crawford. Getting caught in the rain a mile walk from a destination is less than ideal, and it can take a lot of planning to get somewhere sans car. “There are definitely times where I’d really love to just jump in my car and do something that has arisen out of the blue very quickly,” she adds, “but there’s never so much of a hindrance that I can’t accomplish what I need to. The benefits definitely outweigh the negatives.”
One man’s trash is another man’s… next big food trend. In kitchens across the globe—and right here in Raleigh—chefs are giving scraps a glow-up, transforming would-be waste into craveworthy dishes and drinks. Dubbed “upcycled cuisine” or “zero-waste cooking,” the movement is gaining serious traction as sustainability shifts from buzzword to business model—especially in cities like Denver, Portland, NYC and DC, where dodging food waste is top of mind (see sidebar below).
Let’s be real: The stakes are high. Restaurants currently waste an average of 4 to 10% of the food they buy before it ever hits the plate—resulting in a staggering 915K+ tons of food trashed each year nationwide. That waste not only impacts the bottom line, but also strains landfill capacities and contributes significantly to methane emissions. And while curbing the waste feels a long way off, change is cooking.
Madre | Red Brewer
Making a dent in the dump, local spots are stepping up, working leftovers into the lineup like pros—literally churning would-be trash into palatable treasures. Case in point: At Crawford and Son, beef and fish trimmings morph into delightful tartares and crudos, respectively, while scraps from the roasted sea trout entree are repurposed in smoked trout rillettes.
And at budding “east meets west” gem Peregrine, chef Saif Rahman lives by using every part of a product. “I grew up in a household where we couldn’t afford to waste food,” says the celebrated chef. “We were taught to make the most of everything we had.”
He channels that mindset into his globally influenced dishes—blitzing leftover onion skins, scallions, cilantro and the like into powders as a garnish and flavor booster. But the real trash-to-treasure star? Peregrine’s chicken crackling: fried chicken skin remnants served with a chicken fat soubise dip.
Meanwhile, Madre is also taking the trend a step further with its cheekily-dubbed “garbage” artisan biscuits. An absolute must-order on the brunch menu, these aren’t your grandma’s basics. Upping the ante on the Southern delicacy, sous chef Lucas Barfield hatched the idea of incorporating leftover charcuterie scraps into a basic biscuit dough last year in a deliberate effort to cut down on waste. And Raleigh brunchers can’t get enough.
I saw this [sustainability] mindset in the restaurants I worked in, where farmers would bring in products they worked hard to grow or raise. Seeing their effort made me respect the ingredients even more—they come from real people putting in real work.” —Saif Rahman, Peregrine
Barfield’s genius carb concoction is a nod to the comforting ham and cheese biscuits his dad used to make—a nostalgic reminder of home in every bite. Spotting the overlooked off-cuts of serrano ham, chorizo, manchego, cheddar and salami from flavorful event charcuterie boards, Barfield spied the ideal savory add-in for a rich biscuit dough of flour, butter, buttermilk, cream, salt and honey—a clever mix transforming simple ingredients into a layered, indulgent biscuit that’s both familiar and unexpectedly complex.
“If you know anything about charcuterie and cheese service, you know it involves a ton of waste—something that is looked over every day,” shares Madre GM Red Brewer. “Chef Lucas’ idea to take the scraps and fold them back into something as loved as a good biscuit is the pinnacle of Madre mentality.”
Taking a note from the to-die-for biscuit’s sustainability factor, Barfield says Madre tries to cross-utilize unused scraps in other areas of the menu—or for staff meals. “We avoid throwing anything away as much as possible,” he emphasizes, with Brewer adding sustainability is a core value of the restaurant.
So, as Raleigh’s chefs turn scraps into stars, the city is quietly reshaping how we think about food and waste. This movement—rooted in respect, creativity and sustainability—isn’t just a trend, it’s becoming a way of life, proving that small changes in the kitchen can ripple out to big change on our plates and beyond.
Restaurants Transforming Food Waste Across the Country
