A winning recipe
Meet Mark and Krista Patterson.
Three children. Three businesses. More than three dozen employees. Infinite passion for food and service excellence.
For the past eight years, since graduating from NSCC’s culinary program at Marconi Campus, Mark and Krista Patterson have been leaving their stamp on the food scene in Cape Breton and beyond. With an appetite for bringing excellence in both service and flavours to their guests, Mark and Krista are a testament to the possibilities that exist when talents are recognized and supported throughout post-secondary education.
Mark and Krista both joined NSCC’s culinary program in 2013. At the time, Mark was working in the food and beverage industry and Krista sought a career change and decided to pursue her passion for cooking. While at NSCC, both Mark and Krista were recipients of several notable awards and bursaries, including La Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Scholarship, these bursaries and awards helped motivate them and inspire them to continue their hard work
“The instructors at NSCC laid the foundation for us in both business and in food. We have so much respect for these chefs. Seeing their professionalism, the standards they set for their kitchens and how they nurture the potential in their students, set the bar high for how we wanted to operate our businesses,” shares Mark.
Today, the husband-and-wife team are well-known in Cape Breton for their impeccable service and consistent and crowd-pleasing culinary creations. Together, they have three businesses – Mise En Place Catering, The Dory Pub & Restaurant and the Rideout House catering contract. In peak season, they employee up to 65 employees, many of whom are NSCC graduates.
“We’re proud of our amazing team. They’re dedicated, work hard and are here to please. They want people to love their food and their experiences with us,” adds Mark.
“A lot of our success is a credit to the chefs at NSCC. We keep in touch today and they’re often our first call when we’re recruiting new hires.” says Krista. “We’re encouraged that a new downtown location will spark intrigue in the culinary program. The public will more easily be able to experience the talents of the students and the visibility could inspire budding chefs to make the leap into a culinary career. This visibility will do so much to elevate the sector.”