Despite Iowa ranking last in the nation in the number of women- and minority-owned businesses, Pamela Patton, owner of Patton's Restaurant & Catering in Des Moines, has let none of the statistics deter her from reaching her dream.
In fact, Patton is one of only three restaurateurs nationwide who will be honored next week at a gala in Washington, D.C. At the event, she will receive the 2015 Faces of Diversity American Dream Award, an honor given by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. The award is presented to diverse members of the restaurant industry who have, through hard work and perseverance, achieved the "American dream."
And those two traits are exactly what lines the road Patton took when opening her small soul food restaurant at 1552 E. Grand Ave. on Des Moines' east side.
