Staff

Executive Chef / Owner: Jim Fiala

Jim honors his classical French and Italian training at both of his restaurants and is always looking for ways to incorporate this with farm fresh ingredients into simple, beautifully-prepared food. A St. Louis native and graduate of Parkway West Senior High, Jim received a B.B.A. from Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University in 1987. His love for cooking began while he worked in the kitchen on the Clipper Cruise Line. He went to San Francisco and attended the California Culinary Academy and then graduated in 1992. In 1997 after working in restaurants in San Francisco, Chicago, New York City and Puerto Rico, he returned to St. Louis. In 1998, Jim opened The Crossing Restaurant, followed by Acero’s opening in 2007. Jim and his wife Melissa, another St. Louis native, have three children – Lily, Luke and Sam.

Chef: Thu Rein Oo

Thu Rein was born in Myanmar (Burma) and during some of the civil unrest, his family sent him to Malaysia to live in a refugee camp. When asked where he wanted to live, he replied that he wanted to be sent to the U.S. He arrived at our kitchen door to fill the position of dishwasher in December of 2008. We quickly realized that Thu Rein had a bright future working at The Crossing. After years of being a wonderful Chef in Training, in July of 2017, the reins of the kitchen have been turned over to Thu Rein!