He’s cooked for Travel Channel hosts Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern and was named one of Louisiana Cookin’ magazine’s Chefs to Watch in 2011 for his work at Crawfish Town USA, as well as named one of 225‘s people to watch in the same year. But as much success as Colt Patin has had in the toque, working as a chef wasn’t the only thing on his bucket list. He also wanted to teach. Last October, the Breaux Bridge native left the restaurant world to instruct culinary students at the Louisiana Culinary Institute in Baton Rouge.
“I got my start in food by taking ProStart classes in high school,” says Patin, referring to the Louisiana Restaurant Association program that fosters restaurant careers among high school students. “I’m passionate about teaching.”
Patin knew early on he wanted to be a chef. While still in high school, he held down jobs working the first breakfast shift at Prejean’s, while also working as a sous chef at Café des Amis, where he began as a dishwasher. Later, he worked at Clementine in New Iberia then moved on to Crawfish Town USA. As executive chef, Patin was asked to prepare a seafood boil of crawfish, shrimp and crabs for Bourdain, who was shooting an episode of his show, No Reservations, in Cajun Country.