raisins and olives, you either you love 'em or you hate 'em.

I however have been able to convert many a grit hater with my creamy, decadent, comforting, stone ground game changers.

I'm Vivian and I'm a chef.

My husband Ben and I were working for some of the best chefs in New York City when my parents offered to help us open our own restaurant.

Of course, there was a catch.

We had to open this restaurant in Eastern North Carolina, where I grew up and said I would never return.

(Music) Avett Brothers perform "Will You Return" So this is my life.

Raising twins, living in the house I grew up in, and exploring the south, one ingredient at a time.

Previously on A Chef's Life...

The kitchen is pre-much demolished.

We're basically having to start over.

It turns out it took over a month just to clean the building much less rebuild the kitchen and dining room.

If things go as planned we'll be opening in about three weeks.

I know, I know, I'm just saying that I feel pressure.

To some degree that's why I'm saying it's just not worth it.

(music) So what we need to do tomorrow is make a half sheet pan of grits.

I wouldn't really finish them with any milk.

I would put some cheese in there and have them really highly seasoned.

Take a half sheet pan and pour your grits in there.

Chill it and then we're going to cut it out, bread it and fry it.

(smoke detector noise) We're going to open next week... (smoke detector noise) This is actually a test that's mandatory when you do a final building inspection... (smoke detector noise) It's Tuesday morning, exactly one week from the day we plan to reopen and we've got a lot that needs to happen.

We're trying to move into the kitchen.

I'm getting all kinds of deliveries today.

Just making sure we have all our ducks in a row.

The health inspector is coming today.

The building inspector is coming today.

Two of the great things that are coming out of this actually are two new pieces of equipment we're getting and that I have long coveted.

We're getting something called a plancho, which is similar to a griddle and a wood-burning oven.

This is where our pizza oven, DoughPro wood-burning oven, is going to go.

The oven is a huge piece of equipment.

It's 3,000 pounds.

There are a lot of surprises that are coming up and tension is high.

Ben is a maniac.

One batch!

How much time have I spent on this today?

For every like baby step we get forward the last week, it's like bam!

We knew it was all coming to this sort of head.

I mean this is not a surprise.

I hope you're having a good day because for every minute I'm here it gets worse again.

I just hope that it gets a little bit easier.

Whoa!

Whoa!

Whoa!

Whoa!

Whoa!

Whoa!

Whoa!

Hey I don't know what to do.

I think we should get outta here.

Hey!

Hey!

Hey!

Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben don't.

Woah!

My question is why were six people standing and watching and no one said anything but the ceiling tile guy?

I said something too.

I didn't notice it.

She said something to me.

I noticed it.

Who put something in it and turned it on, Ben?

Ben told me me to clean it.

Right, Ben told you so Ben is responsible.

I'm so tired of being blamed for everything.

I wanted to say... Hey!

Hey Vivian.

You are like a ray of sunshine.

I brought you some flowers.

Thank you, thank you.

I assume I'm buying them though.

Oh yeah!

When we caught on fire in January I was using produce from several different farms and we just kinda cut that all off instantly.

And so now I need to cut it all back on instantly and I expect to get...

I guess there's no better way to say it, but special treatment from all my local farmers again.

I can eat this chamomile?

Yeah, yeah it's perfectly edible but I don't know that is tastes very good.

I just like the smell.

I was thinking we would infuse some bourbon or something with it and then this would make a perfect little garnish on a cocktail.

It would.

It would.

In fact I think we should make one for Ben right now!

(smoke detector noise) Wow.

That works!

(laughing) The health inspector's here now.

Okay, I'm going to check that out.

During normal business when the health inspector shows up it's sheer terror.

So, what's up?

So we're going to walk through and you tell me what we need to do.

Uh huh.

And I'll just explain the flow... (smoke detector noise) I'm Sorry.

It's alright.

The temperature for hot water in dish machines the surface temperature of utensils has to reach about 160 and that lets us know that the hot water is coming out at about 180.

Was it cool?

It's fine.

It's fine.

I'm not bragging, but I think it looks really good in here.

Don't you think?

Yes, it's really pretty.

I'm fishing for a compliment.

I'm sorry.

I was listening but I was working.

I'm pretty sure you're going to need a light back here.

Okay You've got to have 50 footcandles of light for work surfaces.

What you've got under those lights it's very bright but then look at how it drops down to 14.

What if we put more of those?

I would say you need like one in each of the little panels.

Okay.

That should do it.

Are we going to have to add some more to open?

Yeah you will.

Ben's gonna freak out when I tell him this.

I almost want you to tell him.

I'll tell him.

You need 50 footcandles of light at your work surfaces and I measure with a light meter and you're not meeting that at all those work surfaces.

I'll show you.

However we can add more.

So we are going to need one there and and in every ceiling tile above a work surface.

It's not the end of the world.

It's pretty bad.

When you say it's not the end of the world I've gotta order all these.

We're not gonna have these in.

It's funny because we went through this whole month of this light bulb thing and Ben had done all these calculations and he came home and had this drawing and I just totally go to another place when people talk about stuff like that.

Maybe I should've listened more.

(music) When you think about Southern food one of maybe four ingredients that comes to mind is grits... or are grits.

I'm not sure what the correct English is!

What is a grit?

Grits are dried corn that have been ground to be the proper consistency to then absorb whatever liquid you're cooking them in.

They along with pork were the main two staples of the southern diet of the 18th century.

For the past four or so years we've been buying grits from Old Guilford Mill near Greensboro, North Carolina.

The grits come in this really cute little yellow bag and it has a picture of a mill on the front with the water wheel.

I kind of doubted that the grits were actually milled in this place, but come to find out they are.

Amy this is Vivian.

I'm Vivian Howard.

-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

Thank you for having us here today.

Oh you're welcome.

I'm so glad you came.

We actually use your grits in Eastern North Carolina at our restaurant.

Good, I'm glad.

One of the things we're going to reopen with is a section on the menu called Pimp My Grits.

Oh good!

Just a few questions.

Could you tell me what it is that makes stone ground grits unique?

It's simple because you're taking a grain and we clean it and then we just grind it.

We don't add to it and we don't take away from it, we just leave it the way it is and I think that's what makes it so good.

Wonderful.

Well, I can't wait to see the action.

Good, we'll get started.

(music) It picks the corn up out of the bin that's here in the floor.

This is the way this is always been done?

Yes ma'am.

Then it goes upstairs to a big bin and down this shoot.

The vertical stones they stand up and one is still and one moves and grinds it.

It goes up this pipe by air into the sifter.

We call that the Hula Girl because it dances around and sifts out the bran.

In this bowl you have the grits?

Right.

Here is corn meal.

Feel the difference?

Yes, it's much finer.

So when you adjust the stone that determines how coarse or fine?

Right.

You don't want those stones to be too close together.

That's how old mills used to burn down because they would have their stones set too tightly.

It's like hittin' two flints together.

You make a fire.

How long has this mill been around?

Since 1764.

Oh wow!

We have people who used to come on their grandfather's wagon to the mill, drop their corn off and then they would hang out and it was like a social place.

And I have customers who remember that.

Well, I was a big fan before and I'm a much bigger fan now and I'll go back and educate my staff more about your product and the grits we're going to be serving... or the grits we're going to be pimping!

Yes, good!

(Laughing) Bye.

Say bye-bye.

I don't think he's going to do it.

I'll see you tonight.

Alright, bye.

Are you leaving, too?

No, I was just kidding.

(laughing) Oh my God.

Yay!

The time following the fire was awesome because I got to see what it was kind of like to be a stay-at-home mom.

So these past two weeks when we have been gearing up to reopen have been really difficult leaving at 8:30 AM and coming home at 10:30 PM and not seeing them at all.

The unfortunate thing is that my life is gonna be a lot more like these past two weeks than the past three and a half months.

So I am a little upset about that.

Today is Thursday.

We hope to open on Tuesday.

We've got big plans for today.

We're supposed to get the wood-burning oven.

The health inspector came back yesterday and gave us the go-ahead.

We have a permit but no inspection.

She'll come back later and surprise us.

You can't put in another one in can you?

I'm just kidding.

(laughing) We're bringing the whole kitchen staff together for a meeting to lay out the way things are going to be.

So I just wanted to say to everybody welcome back.

We have decided to promote Adam to sous chef.

Justice and Adam will be sharing that position.

I feel like this is gonna work.

I think that this fire obviously was shocking and really emotional for me and I'm sure for y'all so I want us to take this opportunity and understand that this is a special place and we're all really lucky to work here, okay.

So your long vacation is over.

(laughing) I also hope to finally get in the kitchen and actually cook something.

I haven't made anything but a mojito in my new space so am anxious to see if I still have my touch.

(music) I think it must just take the plancho a really long time to heat up.

I'm trying to turn on the plancho and I'm looking up on my iPad how to use the poncho.

(Laughing) It's working.

Yay!

Why is that sauce so thick?

My thought process for this was like just strawberries maybe quartered or sliced with a little sugar.

And not the strawberry sauce?

Uh uh.

Oh ok.

I want it to leach into here you know like strawberry shortcake.

Ok. Ok There's probably nothing more quintessentially southern than the grit.

At the restaurant we use grits for any number of things.

They make a wonderful canvas, but no matter what the end result we're gonna start with one part grits to four parts liquid.

And we generally use milk.

So here I have one cup of grits to four cups of milk.

What I have here is a pot of water on the bottom and just a bowl with my grits and milk on top.

I'm going to get that heat up and let it cook for about an hour.

Every now and then I'll go and whisk a little bit and it's really as simple as that.

One of my takes on grits is a version of something I used to eat as a kid.

Every Saturday morning my mom would make plain ol' bland grits and I would add cheddar cheese to them and then crumble sausage in them.

So I love the combination of cheddar cheese and sausage.

So what we're gonna make today is a baked cheese grit with a sausage pepper and mushroom ragu.

Here I have some cooked seasoned grits.

By that I mean they have cooked for about an hour and have absorbed all the milk and I've seasoned them with salt and pepper.

I'm simply gonna spoon grits about halfway up and cover this whole thing in sharp white cheddar cheese.

When I was a kid I had bland American cheese.

This would've really made my grits a lot better.

To make this ragu we're gonna start by heating up a little bit of vegetable oil in a pan.

We're going to brown some country style sausage and try to break it into as small little pieces as possible.

Once it's brown we're going to actually take the sausage out of the pan but reserve that fat that's left in there for cooking the rest of our vegetables.

I'm going to start with my mushrooms so that I can get a little bit of caramelization on them.

Different ingredients take different amounts of times to cook and that's why we're starting with the mushrooms so they can start browning and release their liquid.

The next thing we're going to add are our bell peppers and our spring onions or scallions to give a little oniony flavor to this ragu.

You also want to make sure that you season with each addition.

If you season in the very beginning and then in very end everything in between is just going to taste like it has salt on top of it and not incorporated into it.

We'll let this cook for 10 minutes after which point we'll add our tomatoes.

The tomatoes are what's gonna bring this together and make it saucy and make it seem like a ragu.

As the tomatoes cook I'm going to add some white wine and finally a little chopped garlic.

We'll bring this up to a hard simmer and let it cook for about 20 minutes.

My grits have been baking in the oven.

Let's check 'em.

Oh yeah!

All I need to do now is top it with some of my sausage, pepper, and mushroom ragu and I have an updated memory from my childhood.

It takes me back to Saturday morning cartoons, Saved By The Bell, Pee-Wee Herman.

(music) We can put Pimp My Grits here or we can put it here.

Did you see this little AF?

What is that?

That's for "after fire."

I like that.

Yeah.

I like that, too.

It's Monday, the day before the restaurant is supposed to open and we are doing a trial run tonight with a bunch of our staff and my family.

They are going to come in and order like customers and we're gonna see if we can pull this off.

We have this new computer system and there seems to be a lot of kinks to be worked out.

This is aggravatin'!

It's not workin'.

Half this stuff is not in here and it's not workin' like it's supposed to and we've got 100 people for tomorrow night.

It should be fun.

Is yours frozen?

Before service today we're gonna have a meeting with the wait staff and talk to them about the major menu changes.

I know everybody is nervous, I am anyway, but it's gonna be fine.

And you know tonight I don't want everybody who comes in here to order a ribeye.

The whole point is for us to work on plating our dishes and perfecting them.

One section that I do want to talk about that I'm a little concerned about how it's going to be received by our customers base is this Pimp My Grits section.

(laughing) See I can't even say what it without laughing a little bit!

So when someone says... when my mom comes in here... (groans) Dear God!...

and says what exactly what is Pimp My Grits, what are your going to say to her?

Scarlett, we're bringing sexy back with your grits!

(laughing) I would say it's Chef's way or Vivian's way of taking a humble ingredient and elevating it and all four of these are really well composed dishes and Ms. Howard, I think you should pimp your grits!

(laughing) And we still haven't lit a fire in our wood-burning oven.

I hope to do that in just a few minutes.

I'm planning on being able to cook in it and we're going to wing it.

Alright here goes nothing, really!

You need to start that in the middle of the oven is what it said on the video.

There's really a lot of pressure to light this fire!

Once we get this burning we're gonna push it in that corner.

Back corner?

Which I just learned from Ben.

I'm so happy he was able to tell me.

It's the fire corner.

Do you have any butterflies or are you anxious at all about hopping back in tomorrow?

You know once we get open we have an experienced staff and everyone, I think there will just be a great sense of relief.

What this place looked like four months ago on January 7th you know the first few weeks surrounding that I think a lot of us felt like we didn't know if this day would ever come.

There was just so much work to do and I'm really just very proud of my staff and very proud of my wife and very excited about tomorrow.

(upbeat music) What temperature are you up to?

650.

That's hot.

It's hot, yeah!

It tastes like cough syrup to me.

I think the honey is overwhelming it.

The chamomile should be the star.

I would make a real simple like chamomile soda.

You know what I mean?

Yeah How do you feel, Ben?

Thankfully nobody's paying for anything tonight.

I could feel worse though.

Did you take a pill, a happy pill?

No!

(laughing) Hey!

Hey it's mommy!

Where it says Pimp My Grits ?

Yes, absolutely so you get your grits four different ways.

I think you should get something else besides the steak.

I was going to do grits and country ham.

Oh come on step outside your box just a little bit!

Nobody wanted to try the Pimp My Grits, maybe for the babies?

If you think that's good for the babies, yes.

I think that's a great idea for the babies.

I know Chef Vivian would like that.

You don't want seafood?

It has to be chicken or beef.

You're just gonna give me a run for my money aren't you?

Absolutely.

Alright!

I can handle it.

So we're plating a ribeye med well, two pheasants, grits with pimento, a pheasant and a romaine.

So your potato, followed by a ribeye medium.

Wait, that's not right.

Okay I need to see Betsy and I need to see Susan.

No one's ringing in anything the same.

The POS system is very hard to understand.

I don't believe that the guy who sold it to us and was supposed to program it has held up his end of the bargain.

We've been telling him for over a month that this is more complicated than a Ruby Tuesday's or some stupid alehouse like he normally programs.

Very hot, but good I've found that our biggest critics are actually our servers so whenever they try the food tonight I'll be able to instantly tell what they think.

So what have y'all thought so far?

I can take it.

The ham is really salty.

Salty?

That dish is super salty.

We'll treat the ham grit tomorrow.

Y'all know how hard this is for me takin' all this.

The first thing she said is I can take it!

I can't act like a child right now!

(laughing) Alright where do you want to start?

The biggest issue with service right now is the POS.

The computer system.

Tomorrow we cannot go into service like that.

I cannot read any of the tickets.

I feel like we made a bad decision.

I'm always like oh it will be fine, it'll be fine.

I'm just dreading...

I can fix the food but I'm dreading this.

If it's like that we are going to crash and burn tomorrow.

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