Riley Aitken
Head Chef and Owner – Bella Restaurant in Old Strathcona
Riley began traveling as a young adult, passing his time and paying his way as a dive master, which brought him to the Danish summer island of Samsø. When he began his professional culinary journey, he worked at a destination dining restaurant, Isle Made, where he began to hone his skills and use of seasonal ingredients.
In 2014, Riley moved to Australia to work under esteemed chef James Viles at 2 hatted regional restaurant Biota Dining. Given an opportunity there, he developed his open-flame cooking skills and ultimately became head chef. During his tenure there, he lived on premises in the back of a 1984 Land Rover County. He spent any free time he had outdoors cooking over fire.
In 2019, he returned to his native Canada to open Smokey Bear. After four years, he has begun his second venture, Bella. A culmination of his travels to be shared with Edmonton!
