Tracy Schuhmacher

@RahChaChow

For chef Dan Eaton, the news that Time Warner Cable was not renewing his contract for his Cooking at Home program was unexpected. Even so, Eaton's tone is one of gratitude and optimism.

"It sure was a godsend," he said.

Twelve years ago, Eaton was in the thick of the busy life of a chef. His 20-year journey in that career had taken him from his start at the Daily Planet on South Clinton Avenue through kitchens at the Rochester Club, Restaurant 2Vine, Rio Bamba, Tonic, Pearl, Max Rochester and Rooney's. Along the way, he had moved up the ranks from a breakfast cook to head chef.

While he enjoyed the craft, camaraderie and teamwork involved in working in restaurant kitchens, the low pay and, in particular, the long hours were taking a personal toll. He would see his children, aged 13 and 10, off to school in morning, then not see them again until he did the same the following morning.

When he heard that there was an opening for a chef to do daily cooking demos for the local cable news station, he jumped at the opportunity, even though he had no experience on television. He had an interview, prepared an audition in his home kitchen and within a few months he was on the air.

"I was a deer in the headlights," he said of his initial cooking segments, but he learned on the job with coaching, particularly from photographer Chris Coffey.

The process of creating the show is a long way from The Food Network. The studio is his 10-by10-foot home kitchen in Rochester — it's smaller than it appears on the television. He writes the scripts, shops for ingredients, plans the demos, hosts and edits the segments, posts recipes online, prepares closed captioning and does all of the dishes (he does not have a dishwasher). In the past 12 years, he has repeated the process more than 3,000 times.

"It wasn’t really about me; it was about the food from the beginning," he said. “I didn’t want to dumb anything down — I wanted to simplify what was going on in a professional kitchen.”

He has received positive viewer feedback via emails, Facebook comments and personal connections while shopping at stores and farmer’s markets.

“People feel like they know me," he said. "They can come up and talk to me. It gives me pleasure to know I’m making a difference in people’s lives.”

He also had to adjust to the level of scrutiny given television personalities; his segments are shown throughout New York state and in several other states as well.

"There are some haters out there," he said. People have knocked his voice, hair, recipes, pans, pottery, food handling and more.

Critics notwithstanding, the show has enabled him to take in his son and daughter's performances while they both attended the School of the Arts.

“The payoff was that we had a life together," he said.

Another benefit of his television stint: he was able to create The Dan Eaton Band and write original songs for the band to perform. The band has appeared at local bars and festivals for the past 10 years. He also enjoys physical activities including taking long road bike rides, backpacking, skiing (both cross country and downhill) and running.

Eaton is still wrapping his head around what comes next. He is pondering conducting cooking classes, hosting pop-up dinners and perhaps writing a long-overdue cookbook.

"I think the future for me is about balance because it’s become so important and I’m blessed to have balance in my life," he said.

Spokespeople from Charter Communications, which owns Time Warner Cable, declined to comment on the record about Eaton's status and how long the taped cooking segments would continue to be aired.

TRACYS@Gannett.com

Charter/Time Warner rebranding as Spectrum