Back in mid-September, The Scoop reported on chef changes at The Scottish Arms. While owner Ally Nisbet had assumed more kitchen duties upon the departure of chef Elizabeth Schuester, he has since hired an executive chef. Now running the back of the house at the Central West End restaurant is W. Hunter DiLeo.
DiLeo has worked in the restaurant business since he was 14 years old. Among his culinary adventures, he’s spent the majority of the 21st century cooking in Taiwan, working there from 2000 to 2006 and again from 2009 until this year. During the years between the two Taiwanese tenures, he returned to St. Louis, attending culinary school at L’École Culinaire, becoming certified with the American Culinary Federation, and working at Bellerive Country Club, Sunset 44 Bistro, among other eating establishments.
The St. Louis native returned this year to his hometown to be near family, including his mother, a first-generation American Scot. DeLeo hopes these roots will help him as he works to prepare “traditional Scottish fare in-house that this place was known for,” he said. He added that “a little fusion from my experience in Asia” might make it onto the menu but that pub favorites are certain to stick around.
This article appears in November 2012.