PublictelevisionviewersacrossEastTennesseewilllearnabout Greeneville's Tipton's Cafe when a new travel and dining show called "90 Miles with Chef Garrett" airs on East Tennessee Public Television.

Produced by Atom-Smasher Productions, the new show is still in the production phase, Executive Producer Matt Mullins said on Saturday morning as he and Chef Garrett Scanlan videotaped a segment for the new show at Tipton's Cafe.

Tipton's was founded as Linton's Cafe in 1942, and the small diner on West Depot Street has never been out of business, according to Jim Cutshaw, who has operated it under the Tipton's Cafe name since 1966.

Cutshaw's mother-in-law, who was a Tipton, began operating the cafe under the Tipton's name many years ago, he said.

"I just kept the name when I took over," Cutshaw said.

Chef Garrett Scanlan, a Dublin, Ireland, native who operates two "Garrett's Downtown Deli" restaurants in Knoxville, is the host of the new show. A European-trained master chef, Scanlan spent 30-plus years in some of the world's finest restaurants.

Scanlan will be familiar to those who are regular viewers of "Live at Five at Four," a weekday-afternoon program that airs on Knoxville TV station WBIR (Channel 10).

He explained during a Saturday morning interview that the concept of the new show is for him to spin a dial, select a location, use it as a starting point, and drive 90 miles, stopping for breakfast, lunch, and dinner along the way.

For the segment taped on Saturday, the producers chose Greeneville as the starting point and chose Tipton's Cafe, which had been recommended to them, to tape the breakfast portion of the segment, Executive Producer Mullins said.

The lunch portion of the segment taped on Saturday was scheduled to be taped in a small bakery in Bristol, while the dinner segment was scheduled to be taped in a restaurant in Meadowview, Va., according to Mullins.

The Virginia restaurant is located 90 miles from Greeneville, in keeping with the show's theme, Mullins said.

The show also will feature segments in which Chef Garrett cooks dishes inspired by the restaurants he visits.

On Saturday morning the silver-haired, classically trained chef ate the Tipton's Cafe "breakfast special" of fried eggs, biscuits and gravy, sausage (or bacon) and sliced tomatoes. He followed that up with a grilled donut, a Tipton's Cafe favorite.

While breakfasting at the packed counter inside the restaurant, Scanlan, who was dressed in all-black chef's attire, chatted with fellow diners about why they frequent Tipton's Cafe and what dishes they most enjoy there.

The comments were captured on a digital video camera by Executive Producer Mullins.

Among the Saturday-morning regulars who were in the restaurant while taping was in progress were Toni Weems, who told Scanlan and Mullins that she had been coming regularly to Tipton's Cafe since the 1940s, having grown up across the street in a building that recently burned.

She noted that she has morning coffee at Tipton's every weekday morning and enjoys breakfast there each Saturday.

Weems said she also enjoys catching up on the news at Tipton's on weekday mornings.

Other Saturday-morning regulars who were interviewed for the broadcast included Anita Medlin, and West Greene High School Principal Larry Bible and his wife, Donna.

Bible told the interviewers that the couple's two adult children, who now live in Raleigh, N.C., and Dallas, Texas, respectively, never miss a chance to eat at Tipton's Cafe when they return to Greeneville.

Bible also recalled that his seven-member family often ate at Tipton's Cafe when he was growing up.

Medlin said she stops by often to visit with Michelle Cutshaw, daughter of cafe owners Jim and Edna Cutshaw.

Jim Cutshaw, who operates the restaurant with his wife, Edna, their daughter, Michelle, and a few long-time employees, said he also serves as a Deputy Circuit Court Clerk, signing arrest warrants for police officers and sheriff's deputies during his 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift at the restaurant.

Executive Producer Mullins said after the Saturday-morning taping that he had "loved" Tipton's cafe. "I thought it was fantastic!" he said.

He pointed out that one customer had, perhaps, summed up a major attraction of the restaurant when she used the word "fellowship" to describe what patrons enjoy as much as the food.