Lita Opens Today
A gorgeous Iberian restaurant where a team of chefs are also your waiters.
I haven’t been to the Ironbound in Newark, though I have wanted to for many years to check out the Portuguese food scene. Now I have even more of a reason to get to Jersey because Lita opened today in Aberdeen Township.
The restaurant, from Chef David Viana, is a personal one, a celebration of the culinary legacy of his family, who immigrated from Portugal to Newark in the ’70s when it was known as Little Lisboa. At the time Little Lisboa was booming with a slew of Portuguese restaurants, cafes, and grocers—but that number has dwindled.
With Lita, David is reigniting the region's Iberian identity with a menu inspired by his grandmother’s cooking, an exclusively Spanish and Portuguese wine program, and a unique labor model where two teams of chefs alternate working front and back of the house to prioritize the wellbeing of his team. Pretty cool, right?
David learned to cook from his grandmother, and her recipes take center stage on the menu. Most dishes are prepared in the open-fire hearth oven that anchors the restaurant—it sits in the middle of the dining room. Start with ‘Essenciales,’ a highly shareable collection of tapas like Rissóis de Camarão, shrimp turnovers; Pulpo a Feira, grilled octopus with potatoes, and paprika; Bolos de Bacalhau, salt cod croquettes; and Patatas Bravas (deep and double fried spicy potatoes with smoked trout roe).
Then dive into his hearth-cooked Batata—ember roasted potatoes with smoked creme fraiche and Maldon salt. Larger plates include Snapper Patata Panadera, a snapper, potato and red pepper stew; Bacalhau “A Gomes de Sa,” baked salt cod with potatoes, onions, olives, egg; Piri Piri Chicken, a spicy roast half-chicken, french fries; and Bitoque, a classic Portuguese steak dish topped with a fried egg and signature pan-sauce made of wine, garlic and butter. Lita’s signature paellas (Verdura, Valenciana, or Mariscos) are classically prepared in the hearth oven for the very best crispy crunchy socarrat.
For dessert there’s flan, pastel de nata, and serradura (David’s childhood favorite). But the showstopper is an indulgent, mahogany brown basque cake with hot sherry cream.
The beverage program is under the care of Ricardo Rodriguez (from Miami’s Broken Shaker), and he’s got cocktails across four categories: Classico, Casiero, Martinis, and NA Highballs. Signatures include Tinto De Verano: The OG ‘Sangria; a Sidecar Milk Punch: A classic, updated with yuzu and coconut milk; a Spanish Martini: A love letter to Iberia; and Eli’s: A zero-proof nod to the bagel shop that previously occupied the restaurant’s space.
The wine list at Lita features exclusively Iberian selections from a range of old and young producers across Spain, Portugal and the peninsula’s neighboring islands.
One more thing before you go and make your reservation: Lita’s labor model is unique. The restaurant’s workforce consists of two teams of chefs rotating between the kitchen and the dining room. Each week one team cooks and one team serves, and the next week they switch places.
Everyone rotates through every position, too, from dishwasher to captain. The whole team starts at the same base pay, and tips are divided evenly. This model prioritizes equity across the team by ensuring equal pay and eliminating the industry’s outdated Front of House versus Back of House tension and hierarchy. I’m impressed.
Hope to see you there, and let me know what you think when you go!
Address
1055 NJ-34
Aberdeen Township, NJ 07747Hours
Wednesday - Sunday, 5 PM - 10 PM
After hours: Wednesday - Sunday, 5 PM ‘til late
This place is not in Newark