In 1965, approximately 107 years after the birth of Milton Hershey, another man, with the same burning passion for chocolate, was born in Hershey, PA, at the old Hershey Hospital.....coincidentally, about 200 yards away from the original Hershey Homestead, birthplace of Milton Hershey!  His name is Eric Cayton, and he is the Artisan Chocolatier for Derry Church Artisan Chocolates, LLC, named, of course, in honor of the original Derry Church settlement at present day Hershey, Pennsylvania. This is sacred ground in the world of chocolate, and being 5th generation Derry Church, chocolate is ingrained in Cayton's DNA! 

 

Coming from a small town that is synonymous with chocolate, Chef Cayton found himself fascinated with all things chocolate, even from a very young age (5 or 6)...and much to the amusement of his Mother, he began collecting the wrappers from all kinds of different candy bars, he would beg his Mom to buy him at the grocery store! As a young teen, Cayton began to obsessively read and study about the life and times of his hero and idol, Milton Hershey...feeling it was somehow his destiny to follow in his footsteps and work in the chocolates business.

 

Chef Cayton began his professional culinary life, in 1980, the day he turned 15, in the Foods Department at Hersheypark. Around the same time, financial tragedy struck, and Cayton's family lost everything...including the family business, all their property.....even the family home! On the streets as a young teen, penniless, hungry and bewildered, Cayton  entered a very dark, dangerous period of his young life, he calls, "the lost years".....hitchhiking, taking the bus, sleeping on rail cars, in camp grounds, and the couches of strangers, up and down the East Coast from New York City to Key West, FL.

 

Two years of this hardscrabble existence was enough to convince him to return to the safe harbor of his familiar hometown. Upon his return Cayton was determined to make a new start of things, but he was unable to afford any formal culinary training. He paid for boarding rooms and his meager rations by working for any fast food or casual dining kitchens, in and around the Hershey, PA area that would have him...all the while working side by side, and paying close attention to any of the older boys and young men, that seemed to have more culinary training or knowledge than him.

By the time he was 21, Cayton was already a skilled, and experienced, self-taught chef. Lacking the advantages of a formal culinary degree, he began purchasing culinary school textbooks, diligently studying, memorizing and practicing the skills of the professional chef, he finally landed a 2 year apprenticeship under a cranky old Executive Chef at a local luxury hotel, who, begrudgingly,  taught him the ways of the Executive Chef.  Working for various luxury hotels, country clubs, and caterers in and around the Hershey, PA area, Chef Cayton opened Cayton's Catering, in 1996, sub-leasing kitchen space from a local social club.  He found minimal success, catering to an affluent clientele, yet he never could forget his chocolate roots......and his dreams as a little boy to emulate his hero, and start a successful chocolates company!

FOLLOW CHEF CAYTON ON HIS BLOG AS HE PROCEEDS THROUGH THE START-UP OF HIS NEW ARTISAN CHOCOLATES COMPANY!  FIND SPECIAL OFFERS AND NEW DAILY, WEEKLY OR MONTHLY CHANGES AND INFORMATION! Click Here