Haskayne MBA alum brings community-focused brunch spot to Calgary

Food is medicine, says Patrick Chiu, MBA’18, founder and CEO of community-focused brunch spot Egg & Spoon, when asked for his views on nutrition. 

Knowing the popularity of brunch in Calgary, Chiu wanted to do brunch his own way when he opened Egg & Spoon three years ago.  

“What’s a niche in Calgary? Brunch is,” he says. “We wanted to take a very healthy approach to it.” 

Hiring a head chef focused on celiac-friendly options and partnering for events with other local businesses like Fuse Fitness Studio — another of his projects — are just some of the ways he’s leaving his mark on the restaurant industry. 

MBA helped entrepreneurship goals  

Graduating with an MBA in 2018 from the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business, Chiu found his footing in the world of entrepreneurship.  

“Haskayne has a really structured program that allowed me to succeed, but it’s also given me the tools and resources to allow me to flourish even further,” he says. 

His time at Haskayne gave Chiu the confidence to be a leader in people-first businesses, balancing Egg & Spoon and being the president at Trico Communities.  

“An MBA was really the additional stepping stone to allow me to do what I do today,” he says. 

The city just needs more entrepreneurs, says Chiu. “I think Calgary is an entrepreneurial city, I wanted to build that network within Calgary.” 

Giving back to his community 

With philanthropy at the forefront of everything he does, Chiu is always finding ways to connect his community members. 

Events like Yoga & Brunch - a collaboration between Egg and Spoon and Fuse Fitness Studio - help Chiu connect his businesses together, growing a more diverse community. 

“When we look at Egg & Spoon, we want to be collaborators within the community,” he says. “Not just within the restaurant industry, but also with the other commercials tenants in the same space. We want to develop communities within communities.” 

Chiu is also involved in Haskayne's Trico Foundation Social Entrepreneurship Centre oriented towards social enterprise education and entrepreneurship; showing students the power of making money by solving a social problem.  “Social enterprise is more than just a business making money, it’s actually socially impactful,” he says. “It should be the purpose of why we’re doing business.” 

Continue promoting entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship 

Through Egg & Spoon, Chiu continues to apply the business mentality he gained from Haskayne and his community-driven spirit through his own entrepreneurial efforts. 

He hopes to make a statement in Calgary, promoting entrepreneurs alongside intrapreneurs; employees within a company who develop new ideas, products, or services using the company's resources, essentially innovating from within the organization.  

“What I try to tell my staff and team, is we can still be ‘intrapreneurs’ — meaning even the people that are not being entrepreneurs can still bring up their ideas to me. We can create something meaningful together.”