The editors at Esquire magazine released their list of The 50 Best New Restaurants in America, and you probably aren’t familiar with their top choice for New Jersey.
Lita, located in Aberdeen Twp., Monmouth County, was among the alphabetized (and unranked) list of favorites. They praised the modern Iberian restaurant located inside a strip mall next to an old bowling alley for its top-notch menu.
“The hearth at Lita sees constant tending with a vigorously waved fan, the feeding of charcoal with a shovel, the movement of chicken and octopus,” says the evaluation “…Many things come from this hearth, but the paella beckons. The fire gives it criminally generous amounts of socarrat, the smoky, crunchy, flavor-packed bits of rice that, to many, are the primary reason for the dish’s existence.”
“But there is depth to Neilly Robinson and Chef David Viana’s menu beyond the hearth. 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.”
Lita opened in the spring, the third restaurant from Robinson and Viana, who worked together on Heirloom Kitchen Chef’s Table & Cooking School in Old Bridge, and the award-winning Heirloom at The St. Laurent in Asbury Park. Lita is named after David’s mother, Rosa Lita, and is a celebration of the culinary legacy of his family, who immigrated from Portugal to Newark in the 1970s.
The menu includes items like traditional sourdough bread, shrimp turnovers, spicy potatoes, tempura green beans, duck croquettes, bay scallops in white wine sauce, octopus in a red pepper crema, Spanish meatballs, braised chicken with saffron spaghetti, tuna tartare in jalapeno pistachio butter, Iberico pork, duck with smoked pork belly and navy beans, and paella for two.
Desserts include a Portuguese custard tart, Mom’s Portuguese flan, an olive oil cake with sherry cream and almonds, and permission pudding. There’s also a cocktail menu, champagne and a wine list.
Lita is located at 1055 Rte. 34 in Aberdeen. Next door is La Otra, an intimate neighborhood cocktail bar perfect for drink before or after dinner.
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