Deep Run Roots

One of the Best Cookbooks of 2016
--The New York Times, Bon Appetit, Amazon, Food & Wine, Saveur, People, USA Today, Garden & Gun, Eater, Cherry Bombe, Tasting Table, Nashville Scene, Epicurious, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Library Journal, Sun News, Star Chefs, Food Republic

"This is an epic work of art.... It is stunning. It is so beautiful. And what I love best about this book is the storytelling. It's such a vivid work."

"The book reads like a memoir, with lengthy and lush descriptions of Howard's hometown thoughts...I was prepared to pick this book based on the story... alone.... Certifiably delicious... [and] Howard's voice is folksy and endearing, and I loved her stories about her family and the Piggly Wiggly-and I wanted very badly for her to be cooking instead of me.... Gorgeously photographed, with [an] encouraging, warm voice, and scores of enticing recipes."

"My favorite cookbook of the season--the one doomed to the most splatters--is Vivian Howard's Deep Run Roots... Howard cooks with what can only be called wit... but also magnificent heart.... [It] will keep your soul fed for weeks."

"Chef and television star Vivian Howard can now add cookbook author to her impressive resume. Deep Run Roots focuses on her brand of Southern food and country cooking, both from her home and from her acclaimed Kinston, NC restaurant, Chef and the Farmer. These are compelling recipes, like fried yams paired with five-spice maple bacon and fried okra updated with a tempura batter. There are over 200 recipes and, remarkably, each has a photo."

"The first lady of Carolina cooking.... Howard has been restoring Kinston's soul."

"You won't find a fried chicken recipe anywhere in [Deep Run Roots'] 570 pages...Vivian has the opportunity to redefine the cuisine of her region."

"In this outstanding debut... fans of Southern cooking will find plenty of catfish, corn cakes, cast-iron skillet dishes, and cooking-with-Grandma stories--but it's not all biscuits and gravy... Going beyond the glories of grits, Howard's text is storytelling at its best, rich in mouthwatering detail and reminiscences... This tribute to her family roots is destined to become an enduring classic."

"It's rare that reminiscences and recipes mix holistically in one book. Remember, though, that . . . Howard hails from North Carolina, where a penchant for storytelling is in everyone's DNA. . . . A must-read compendium of wisdom."

"The Southern chef and A Chef's Life star gives you a reason to love eastern North Carolina. More than 200 reasons, in fact, including fried yams with five-spice maple bacon candy and cucumber crab dip. Each recipe shows just how tuned in Howard is to Southern cuisine traditions, and her stories will leave you homesick--wherever you're from."

"In Deep Run Roots... [Howard] introduces readers to the foods of her world, explaining butter beans and calling cheesy grit fritters the Southern brother to arancini while giving insight into the difference between turnip eaters and collard eaters. It's regional and Southern, with a thoughtful approach elevated by ingredients and technique."

"[Deep Run Roots] is no ordinary cookbook.... The reader who finishes these chapters about foods will also have read Vivian Howard's memoir."

"Clocking in at 576 pages, with 200 recipes organized by ingredients that define the region around her hometown of Deep Run, NC, Deep Run Roots is a deliciously ambitious volume that doubles as biography and cookbook... Howard gives us a feel for who she is."

"Howard's book is a big, gorgeous example of an approach to food that gets to the heart of the recent love-fest for southern cooking. Farm to table is the real deal here, and Howard organized Deep Run Roots the way she determined the menu for her restaurant, Chef and the Farmer-by ingredient-in order to focus on what is fresh and local throughout the year."