About Us

Chef Thierry Moity is originally from the town of Nantua in Central France, and had been apprenticing and cooking in kitchens since he was thirteen. Patricia his wife, is from French Flanders near Belgium, and had a background working in hospitality and resorts. They met in Cannes in 1975, and two years later, young and adventurous, traveled to America with the intention of moving to California and then Australia. But New York City caught them, and in 1987 they opened up their first restaurant there, the Cafe de Bruxelles. Eighteen years later, like so many other New Yorkers, they finally felt a need to slow down, and North Carolina called to them. First they moved to Charlotte, opening up Patou Bistro in 1995. Then in 2001, to the chagrin of their devoted Charlotte following, they came to Wilmington and opened Caprice Bistro. The couple will celebrate their 40th marriage anniversary this year, and it's a storybook partnership. He runs the back of the house, and she runs the front. 

"This one, he doesn't like to come out, he likes to be in the kitchen," Patricia Moity says, smiling at her husband.

"It's better," he responds, "we complete each other. We're not here to compete, we're here to complete."

By BRIDGET CALLAHAN