New Cranford Restaurant Offers Full Lunch & Dinner Menu & a Full Bar
CRANFORD n The best words to describe Café Lia, the new Italian American restaurant in Cranford, are: Comfortable, relaxed and romantic.
“I love the relaxed feel of this place,” one online reviewer wrote recently. It’s “dark, romantic and cozy n like a comfortable bar.”
That’s exactly the feeling the owners and managers of Café Lia were aiming for. It has a warm atmosphere, delicious food and live entertainment Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Here’s a quaint bistro, where you can get a romantic candlelit dining experience with attentive service.
“This is where the food and atmosphere speak for itself,” the restaurant notes on its website at CafeLiaNJ.com.
“We make our food the old fashioned way,” said Cesar Gutierrez, manager of Café Lia (117 North Union Avenue, Cranford; CafeLiaNJ.com). “Our vegetables come from the farm, not a can. Preparation is done in our kitchen under the supervision of Chef Jesus Salguero, not in a factory watched by a foreman. We make our food like Mama did.”
The chef is the heart of any restaurant and Chef Jesus Salguero has nearly 25 years experience in more than a dozen New York City restaurants cooking Italian, Tuscan style.
“I’m a chef because I love what I do,” said Salguero. “I love cooking. It comes from my heart. When I am in the kitchen, I feel like I’m creating something special.”
His specialties include: A Grilled Pork Chop (with broccoli rabe and sweet and hot peppers), Pappardella Alla Lia (shrimp sautéed with fresh tomato and wild mushrooms, tossed with arugula and a touch of truffle oil), Risotto (with pancetta, spinach puree and parmigiana reggiano cheese), Veal Scallopine Dana (sautéed with peppers, artichoke hearts and wild mushrooms in a sherry wine sauce), and Baked Portabello (with roasted pepper and fresh mozzarella, topped with an aged balsamic reduction).
The restaurant has many good reviews from customers who have taken the time to go to online sites to record their opinions.
“You can depend on great service and lively waiters and waitresses,” one online reviewer wrote. “Definitely catch me here around 9 p.m. or 10 p.m. every Thursday for a drink while listening to the live entertainment.”
A second reviewer complimented the “great service, nice presentation. The food was very tasty. … Ample portion sizes, not too big and not designer size portions. Dessert was amazing!”
And a third noted: “A nice experience. … I loved the chunks of parmesan cheese on the table cut right off the big block. I will definitely come back!”
After the chef’s favorites, regular dishes on the menu include: A wide variety of appetizers (fried calamari, New Zealand mussels, baked clams, mozzarella en Carrozza), salads (goat cheese, fennel, Caesar and tri-color), paninis (chicken, broccoli rabe and sausage, salmon, eggplant, prosciutto di parma, grilled vegetable), pastas (pappardella alla lia’s, classic rigatoni vodka, oreccheitte, spaghetti pescatore, linguine alla vongol, homemade fettuccini, penne Bolognese, cheese ravioli), entrees (pork, salmon, veal, shrimp, chicken, beef, fish) plus decadent desserts (homemade tiramisu, cannoli, Italian cheesecake, tartufo, cream carmel, flambe).
Café Lia, said it’s full bar is the best any area restaurant has to offer n bar none.
“We have the best selection of premium liquor,” said Gutierrez “And it is served in the elegant surroundings of our sparkling new full bar with appetizers ranging from fried calamari and baked clams to a shrimp cocktail and tomato and fresh mozzarella. It’s a great place to relax, unwind and refresh.”
Most menu items can be prepared for takeout. Catering is available in the restaurant for up to 65 people and off premises for larger groups. And when there’s a party at the restaurant, the staff can even make room for dancing.
But the restaurant was a hit before it even officially opened in November. In fact, during Cranford’s October street fair, more than 600 people feasted on the delicious food from the Café Lia kitchen. They ate so much, the kitchen ran out. Café Lia prepared more than: 70 pounds of pasta, 70 pounds of chopped meat, 75 pounds of spare ribs, 75 pounds of sausage, and 60 gallons of special Sunday sauce.
“That’s not bad for a restaurant that wasn’t officially open,” said Gutierrez, manager of Café Lia. “We had quite a day n and so did our more than 600 guests.”
