Scott Downey
After years working in some of the world’s most ambitious kitchens, Scott Downey returned to his hometown in Edmonton with a clear sense of what he wanted to build: a restaurant that could give his hometown the kind of memorable dining experiences he had encountered around the world.
Downey grew up in the Edmonton area, but his culinary career took him from Vancouver to New York and Copenhagen, including time at Daniel and Noma, regarded as two of the best restaurants in the world. When he eventually returned to Canada, he began looking for a way to bring that experience home. In Vancouver, he worked as sous chef at Wildebeest while also launching a foraging company that supplied wild ingredients to restaurants throughout the city.
That experience became part of the foundation for The Butternut Tree, which Downey opened in Edmonton in 2017 at just 27. From the beginning, the restaurant was intended to celebrate what could be found close to home. Its original concept focused entirely on Canadian ingredients, and though he has since shifted from that strict requirement, the focus remains on a Canadian-rooted menu that challenges diners to reconsider what Canadian cuisine could be.
For Downey, the restaurant has always been about more than putting food on a plate. He wanted to create the sort of destination that would give Edmontonians the same excitement of discovery they seek when travelling — while proving that exceptional culinary experiences could be found in their own city. That philosophy has remained central even as the restaurant has evolved beyond its original all-Canadian restrictions.
For a chef who once left Edmonton to discover the culinary world, Downey is now using what he learned abroad to help shape the city he came home to.
