OUR TOWN: The Tastemarket, SAIT

notably exuberant Calgary restaurateur and SAIT instructor Patricia Koyich admits she’s occasionally a downer (with purpose) in the classroom. Koyich owned Calgary’s beloved Il Sogno restaurant for 15 years. Now, she’s teaching the first cohort in her alma mater’s culinary entrepreneurial post-diploma program at The Tastemarket, a classroom-bakery-charcuterie-flatbread joint that builds on the school’s other popular live-learning experiment, the Highwood dining room.

To be sure, now doesn’t seem like a particularly auspicious time to open a new whoopie-pie shop or ice-wine bar in Calgary. Small-business owners are currently coming to grips with the carbon tax and hikes to the minimum wage, and some long-standing restaurants have closed their doors.

Koyich is sanguine, however, about the latest challenges in her biz. Her message to the future stewards of Calgary’s food scene echoes that of many other local chefs and operators (including Gravity café owner Andy Fennell, who recently told fellow shop owners to “stop moaning” about the recent changes). “Entrepreneurs have a lot to think about, for sure,” she says. “I wouldn’t dismiss what restaurants are going through—I endured a lot of challenges in my tenure at Il Sogno.” But, she tells her students, thinking entrepreneurially is about being resourceful no matter what the circumstances.

“We’ve developed this program around helping students manipulate their skill sets, and understand a variety of business models,” she says. “We want students to see that there are so many ways to be an entrepreneur— even if you decide to work for someone else, you can do that with an innovative spirit.”

The Tastemarket’s students come with a wide range of dreams, from opening a food truck to building a massive, Vegas-style entertainment empire. “They’re fearless, just like I was,” says Koyich. “They come in feeling invincible, which is naïve but it’s also wonderful and necessary.” Her job is to make sure they “understand the math.” Certainly, learning the finer points of operations, finance and human resources isn’t as much fun as, say, inventing the next great taco, but it’s crucial.

Koyich herself wishes someone had taught her early on to find a mentor and ask for help. “When I started my career, there was still an old-school, competitive mentality,” she says. “Now, there’s a strong sense of collaboration and community.”

So, be a sport: go in for a slice of Black Forest cake or bowl of miso ramen. Whether or not they open Calgary’s next Il Sogno, these students are already nailing it in the kitchen.