Vivian Howard's 'A Chef's Life' takes home Daytime Emmy Award for best culinary show

"A Chef's Life," the PBS TV series starring chef Vivian Howard that celebrates Eastern North Carolina and its culinary traditions, has won its first Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Culinary Program.

The 45th annual awards were presented Sunday in Pasadena, Calif., capping off a big weekend for the Kinston chef, who attended the James Beard media awards Friday night in New York City. Pannacooking.com took home the James Beard Award for Best Instructional Video for a video hosted by Howard.

Sunday, though, Howard and the "Chef's Life" crew beat “Giada Entertains,” “Lidia’s Kitchen,” “Mind of a Chef” and “Valerie’s Home Cooking" to take home the Emmy.

In 2015, Hill won a Daytime Emmy Award for Best Directing in a Lifestyle/Culinary/Travel program for "A Chef's Life." She was nominated for the same award this year but lost to "Giada's Holiday Handbook."

Howard also was nominated for Best Culinary Host. Lidia Bastianich, host of “Lidia’s Kitchen," won that award in a category filled with other culinary heavyweights: Giada De Laurentiis, host of “Giada Entertains”; Guy Fieri, host of “Guy’s Ranch Kitchen”; and Danny Bowien, host of “Mind of A Chef.”

Sunday night, the "Chef's Life" team tweeted: "WOW, we’re bringing one home!!!!! Over the moon happy! Thanks to all our fans, sponsors, cast, crew and the academy for believing in our little show."

It's another major award for "A Chef's Life," which ended its fifth season in December, Howard, Durham-based Markay Media and "Chef's Life" co-creator Cynthia Hill. Hill, a fellow Lenoir County native and founder of Markay Media, accepted the award with Howard Sunday night.

"A Chef's Life" won a Peabody Award in 2014, and Howard won a James Beard Award for Outstanding Personality/Host in 2016. The show has been nominated for six James Beard Awards since it began.

The show, which started in 2013, explores Southern cooking through ingredients found in North Carolina while also telling the story of Howard's daily life. The series has shown her successes — building up her restaurant Chef & The Farmer to national acclaim and her first cookbook — but also her struggles, including the first season fire that threatened to derail it all.

Audiences, about 4 million each episode, have fallen in love with Howard, her charm and the people in the show who surround her.

“Young girls and young boys come up to her and get emotional, little kids watch the show and are inspired by her,” Hill said last year in a News & Observer profile of Howard. “She shows what a strong female character can be and shows young boys the potential for a woman in an industry dominated by male figures. Having that role model is powerful.”

Meanwhile, Howard has become an influential chef, opening two more restaurants, and storyteller. Her debut cookbook "Deep Run Roots" also accumulated awards and acclaim.

Howard has said that a sixth season of the show is "up in the air."

James Beard Awards

The James Beard Foundation held its Media Awards Friday night in New York City, honoring the television, journalism, books and digital works of the food world.

Howard hosted a video for pannacooking.com, a step-by-step guide to making black bean glazed salmon with ginger cabbage. She says in the video that the dish is one of her family's favorites at home. For the piece, Panna Cooking won the award for Best Video Webcast, Fixed Location and/or Instructional.

Howard was also up for Best Host or Personality, an award she previously won in 2016 for the "A Chef's Life." This year the award went to fellow PBS host Pati Jinich for "Pati's Mexican Table."

Clarification: "A Chef's Life" won its second Daytime Emmy Award but the first in the Outstanding Culinary Program category. An original version of this story said its the first Daytime Emmy Award. Cynthia Hill won an award for Best Directing in a Lifestyle/Culinary/Travel program in 2015. The story said Howard won the James Beard Award for Best Instructional Video. Pannacooking.com won the award.

Brooke Cain contributed to this report.

This story was originally published April 30, 2018 at 1:43 PM with the headline "Vivian Howard's 'A Chef's Life' takes home Daytime Emmy Award for best culinary show."