Still haven’t been yet, but kudos to Chef and team for making Esquire’s list of the 100 Best New Restaurants!
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Congratulations, Chef David Viana! Lita is a James Beard Award semi-finalist in the Best New Restaurant category.
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As of 1/1/2026, Mr. Bean is officially retired. Coincidentally, one of his best friends also retired that very same day. He and his spouse are our frequent dining partners, adventurous eaters who are game for just about anything. So, since we could, we made a Wednesday night reservation at Lita, opting for the Chef’s Counter and the five-course tasting menu.
I started with their Spanish Martini — Citadelle gin, fino sherry, piparra brine, and saffron oil.
We were offered two starters. The first, a perfectly grilled octopus, disappeared before I had a chance take a photo. The second was smoked sourdough bread with whipped ricotta and grilled mushrooms, finished with olive oil and chives.
The official first course was Cavala: pickled mackerel, pears, oil-cured olives, ajo blanco. Before plating, the chef pressed a burning coal directly onto the skin of the fish to crisp it. The pickering was a perfect foil for the slightly oily fish
Next came Ensaladilla de Txaka : plump crab, a crispy piri rosette, salsa rosa. A clever, elevated riff on a tuna salad sandwich, swapping in crab. The sauce had a little heat that you could add to your taste.
Course three was Fraldinha: skirt steak, requeijão, chestnut mushrooms. The meat was remarkably tender, infused with the wine used in its marinade, rich without being heavy.
The fourth course, Paella de Carne de Porco: braised pork shoulder, pickled cabbage, giardiniera. Mr. Bean immediately asked whether I own a paella pan so I could recreate it at home. I do have the pan but I’m under no illusion that I could do this dish justice.
Dessert for the fifth course, Crème Brûlée blue cheese, fig leaf ice cream, and brûléed pears. Who would have thought brûléed blue cheese would be so good?
This was one of the best meals I’ve had in a while though probably not how I could eat very often. Lita also offers a three-course prix fixe dinner with multiple options, and à la carte dining on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Sundays, and always at the bar. We’re already looking forward to going back.
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Try Ram and Rooster in Metuchen for comparable quality. Kitchen is run by former staff member of Chef Dave. Also has Chef Table and Prix fixe.
The meal I had at Ram and Rooster was probably the second best meal. We sat at the counter for that dinner as well. We love watching chefs at work.
We celebrated Mr Bean’s birthday there. I hope to get reservation at Buoys By Night in Manasquan for my next one. (notice a pattern?)
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Well, you’ll be happy to know that Lita was already under consideration for an upcoming birthday dinner and your post put me over, so that’s where we’re going! CAN’T WAIT
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Enjoy! I think you’ll love it.
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I just made a reservation to Ram and Rooster for January 31st. It looks phenomenal. I’m looking forward to it.
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I hope u enjoy it as much as I did …request Chefs Table!
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I second @Oldandtired’s recommendation. We had the Chef’s Tasting menu and sat at the counter. It was a lovely experience.
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Crossing everything! (I didn’t make the reservation…)
Thank you @Oldandtired and @MsBean ! We are really looking forward to it.
I would love to sit at the Chef’s counter, but the problem is that we bring too much luggage with us, and there would be no room to put anything at the counter 
I bring a wine bag with 2 bottles of wine, as well as another bag with my wine glasses.
Thats not luggage… thats a party!!
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I love sitting at counters and watching chefs at work so would make it work. As a recall they took our extra bottle of wine and carrier and stowed it safely until we were ready for them.
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If you’re following, I had a big weekend of birthday dinners - just posted about dinner at Judy and Harry’s over here - Saturday night we headed to another of Chef Viana’s restaurants - and La Otra and Lita did not disappoint!
We arrived early so we could have drinks at La Otra, which is only open Thurs-Sat. We were escorted through the restaurant to the cocktail bar, which is appropriately lit and has a combination of booths and tables. The 4 of us were seated at a booth and it wasn’t until we were leaving to go have dinner that we realized what was so odd about it - 3 of us in the booth + 1 at a chair in the ‘aisle’ - and it turns out the curved booth is squared off in the seats, which explained why (we learned as we talked about it) the booth dwellers never quite felt like it was a comfortable booth. That said, we were all happy with our cocktails (they’re different online, but I know I had a Brooklyn, which was described as a rye/sherry old fashioned.
Dinner: Oh boy! Stunning Benchmark sourdough w (in this case) a compound butter with long hots and other stuff I can’t remember. Delicious. We then shared:
Rissóis de Camarão - Shrimp turnovers (DO NOT SKIP)
Tártaro de Atum - tuna crudo, lemon vinaigrette, crispy sunchokes
Salada de Edìvia - endive salad, fennel, apples, pickled squash, blue cheese, squash vinaigrette
Paella of the day with chicken, chorizo, and ‘ranch’ dressing drizzled on top. I really wish I could remember what the ‘ranch’ was made of, but when our waiter told us, we all said YES.
Camarão Alhinho garlic shrimp, vinho verde, crispy potatoes (all excellent)
Bife de Fraldinha - sherry marinated skirt steak (OMG)
Charred Cauliflower - sundried tomato vinaigrette, Manchego (loved it!)
Romano Beans - lemon, olive oil (charred SO well)
Rosa’s Flan - mom’s Portuguese flan recipe
Abuela’s Apple Cake - cinnamon sugar, spiced whip w cardamom
Sweet Potato Basque Cheesecake - toasted marshmallow ice cream, graham cracker streusel
There were decaf espresso martinis, too. 
I can honestly say there wasn’t a ‘miss’ anywhere. I think we chose our dishes beautifully and when I chatted with Chef, he agreed!
GO.
The only photo from the night is the paella
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Well, happy birthday!
Thanks!
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