Chef Colt Patin

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.

“I sat down and had crawfish with him,” says Patin. “He was a really nice guy.”

For Zimmern’s show, Patin smoked a four foot whole alligator that had been marinated, seasoned with Cajun spices and stuffed with alligator and chicken sausage. “It was falling off the bone,” says Patin. “He loved it. It tasted like chicken, turkey and fish all at the same time.”

Meanwhile, Patin began considering the idea of obtaining a Culinary Arts degree. His sous chef at Crawfish Town, Dusty Latiolais, had attended LCI, and Patin was impressed with the breadth of Latiolais’ knowledge. Despite his early success in the kitchen, Patin wanted formal training. Still working Crawfish Town’s executive chef, Patin enrolled in LCI.

After a couple of attempts to bring him on the faculty, LCI convinced Patin to become a chef-instructor last fall.

“I am really inspired by food. I feel an emotional connection to it,” says Patin. “In the students, I like to see what about food makes them tick. It’s exciting to find that little flame inside everyone. It’s different in each person.”

Patin still lives in Breaux Bridge, and when he’s not commuting to Baton Rouge to teach, he spends time with his family and works on their charity, Heartstrings and Angel Wings. It provides hand-sewn clothing for children like the Patins’ son Heath, who was born severely prematurely and has been affected by developmental issues. While friends and family work on tiny infant wear they’ll donate to five area hospitals, Patin cooks for the group.

“We had to buy my son’s clothes from the Build-a-Bear Workshop store, until we found a few options online. But they were so expensive, which seemed really wrong,” says Patin. “It’s a hard time for families and we wanted to do our part in making things a little easier.”