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Lita, in Aberdeen, by Chef David Viana and his girlfriend Neilly Robinson, is representing the Garden State on Esquire's list of "50 Best New Restaurants in America."
You may recognize Viana and Robinson from Heirloom Kitchen in Old Bridge, and Heirloom at The St Laurent, in Asbury Park.
Lita is named after Viana's mother, Rosa Lita, came to Newark from Portugal in the 1970s. Viana's love of food, especially Portuguese classics, come from his mother and his grandmother, Isaura.
In fact, many of Isaura's recipes "take center stage" at Lita, its website says, and are cooked in the open fire hearth oven — the crown jewel of the restaurant.
Here's what Kevin Sintumuang, an Esquire writer, had to say about Lita.
Lightly fried pieces of Manchego will make you rethink how cheese should be fried. The tuna tartare, dressed in ajo blanco and jalapeño, topped with roasted almonds, wrapped in a shiso leaf, and served atop a bed of ice? One of the most sublime bites you’ll have this year.
The drinks, from Ricardo Rodriguez, have just enough of a culinary touch to swerve along with the food. A boulevardier gets coconut oil; the Spanish martini, a bit of piparra brine and saffron oil. By night’s end, as you step out into the parking lot, you half expect the mosaic sidewalks of Lisbon.
Click here for the complete article from Esquire and here to visit Lita's website.
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