Celebrity Chef Vivian Howard grew up in Lenoir County and helped make it a culinary capital on her hit PBS series A Chef’s Life. The show chronicled her story as she worked with local farmers to reinvigorate their crops and give roots to the farm to table movement.

Chef & the Farmer, Howard’s local restaurant made famous by the series, opened in 2006 and has gone through many changes. Its newest incarnation is known as The Kitchen Bar. Always the culinary innovator, Chef Howard has crafted another unique dining experience for lovers of upscale Southern food and her fans. It includes a seven-course meal, made by the chef herself, and shared with only 16 guests, one weekend a month. At $300 per ticket, it’s not cheap. But it’s also not an experience you are going to get anywhere else. It’s only in Kinston.

More from Chef Howard herself:

At this point, it is most important to me that I am at the center of every experience you have at Chef & the Farmer. That’s the story I sold you, but because I’m a mom, a writer, a tv host and a self-described challenge seeker, it’s not the outcome I was able to guarantee. This chapter is different.

I’m opening The Kitchen Bar one weekend a month and sharing the line with an old friend or two, so it’s manageable. It will be part of my work, but not the whole of it. I will be cooking seven courses rooted in story. The themes and the dishes will change as often as I do, so this chapter is appealing too. But the thick of it, the why if you will, is because I want to be a part of your experience. I think it will help me sleep better at night.”