James Beard Says Lita In Aberdeen Is The Best New Restaurant In NJ

ABERDEEN, NJ — The accolades keep coming in for Lita, the foodie-serious Portuguese/Spanish restaurant on Rt. 34 in Aberdeen.

Lita was just named a 2024 James Beard semifinalist. The Aberdeen restaurant was one of three restaurants in New Jersey to make the coveted list; the other two are Dane DeMarco of Gass & Main, Haddonfield (Best Chef) and Nur-E Gulshan Rahman of Korai Kitchen, Jersey City (Best Chef).

The James Beard Foundation awards are sometimes known as the “Oscars of food;" they announced the semifinalists Wednesday.

Best New Restaurant in New Jersey:

• Lita, Aberdeen Township

Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic region:

• Dane DeMarco of Gass & Main, Haddonfield
• Nur-E Gulshan Rahman of Korai Kitchen, Jersey City

Lita just opened in the spring of 2023. It is the third restaurant from Neilly Robinson and Chef David Viana, the owners of beloved local restaurant Heirloom Kitchen on Rt. 516 in Old Bridge. (Robinson and Viana also own Heirloom at The St Laurent in Asbury Park.)

In November, Lita was named to Esquire's list of the "Best New Restaurants in America, 2023."

Out of 50 restaurants they named across the U.S., Lita was the only one in New Jersey to make their list. Here's why Esquire said they love Lita:

"It is the thing you least expect to see inside a strip mall in central Jersey next to an old bowling alley, but then again, no one expected that a destination-worthy Iberian restaurant would be here. Many things come from this hearth, but the paella beckons. The fire gives it criminally generous amounts of socarrat (the crispy, caramelized bottom part of the paella closest to the fire), the smoky, crunchy, flavor-packed bits of rice that, to many, are the primary reason for the dish’s existence."

"Lightly fried pieces of Manchego will make you rethink how cheese should be fried," writes Esquire. "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 ... By night’s end, as you step out into the parking lot, you half expect the mosaic sidewalks of Lisbon."

Lita: 1055 NJ-34 Aberdeen Township, NJ 07747 Their website: https://www.thelovelylita.com/ Their Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the....