Riley Huddleston

Executive Chef Partner | Lido House

As Executive Chef Partner of Lido House, Riley Huddleston brings a decade of culinary power to Lido House, driving the hotel’s food and beverage concepts including The Mayor’s Table restaurant, Topside rooftop bar and lounge and Crew Coffee + Cremerie.

Earning his chops as a chef, mixologist, pastry chef and restaurateur in elite New York and Chicago establishments, Huddleston is known for elevating fare with provenance as the starring ingredient. Huddleston’s innovative culinary style blends classic French training with modern cooking techniques. At Lido House, expect precision and playfulness from a menu that fittingly take cues from the hotel’s enviable waterfront in Newport Beach, offering a refined yet stylish celebration of Southern California’s coastal lifestyle and cuisine. The Mayor’s Table, positioned to be a Newport Beach hot spot, manifests a pacific pub-style vibe offering inventive cocktails and seafood oriented fare including an open action kitchen.

The Oregon native was most recently part of the opening team at the award-winning LondonHouse Chicago, a luxury Chicago hotel in the stunningly renovated London Guarantee Building. Huddleston held the dynamic role of executive chef + beverage director, leading the culinary and beverage program and operations for the hotel and its chef-driven dining establishments; curating everything from food and beverage menu concepts to music selections. Huddleston also created the menu and kitchen cocktail program as Executive Chef for I|O Urban Roofscape at The Godfrey Hotel Chicago, the city’s largest indoor-outdoor rooftop lounge where lifestyle was a centerpiece. He also mixed it up at the Aviary, crafting drinks for the famed Grant Achatz’s cocktail concept.

Yet, his early career at Timber Cove Resort may have proven most impactful, earning Executive Chef & Beverage Director rank at 24 years old. Fresh off his award-winning entrepreneurial debut of Boise Fry Company in Idaho, it was here on the Sonoma Coast where Huddleston met and worked with developer Bob Olson, transforming the hotel into a success story. Serendipitously, when Olson was seeking a chef/partner for his Lido House legacy project, only one name came to mind. The pair traveled the world over -- French Riviera included -- scouting celebrated hotel menus for inspiration.