North Carolina Legend Vivian Howard Upgrades Charleston Hotel With Two Restaurants

Award-winning PBS host and celebrity chef Vivian Howard will open her first Charleston restaurants this summer. Bakeshop Handy + Hot and “casual yet refined” Southern eatery Lenoir will come online at the Renaissance Charleston Historic District Hotel at 68 Wentworth Street.

This is Howard’s first foray in South Carolina restaurant scene. She and her husband and business partner Ben Knight currently run Chef & the Farmer and Boiler Room in Kinston, North Carolina, and Benny’s Big Time in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Originally an online-only shop in Kinston, Handy + Hot in the Lowcountry will serve grab-and-go items like biscuits, hand pies, sandwiches, and coffee. It will be a stop for breakfast and dinner.

The main restaurant Lenoir draws from Howard’s hometown of Lenoir County, North Carolina. According to the press release, “Lenoir’s streamlined menu will reflect the food of the frugal farmer, rather than traditional Lowcountry cooking.”

Look for more details to come on the space, the menu, and the opening as they come along.

• Vivian Howard Will Explore the Diversity of Southern Cuisine on New PBS Show [E]
• What Happens When Big-City Chefs Open Small-Town Restaurants [E]
• Handy + Hot [Official]
• Lenoir [Official]