David Viana

Lita

David Viana, Executive Chef/Owner

@chefdaveviana

David Viana, Executive Chef/Owner

@chefdaveviana

David Viana is the Owner & Executive Chef of Good Trouble Hospitality in New Jersey, which includes numerous award-winning restaurants such as Lita, La Otra, Heirloom Kitchen, Judy & Harry’s and lastly the Good Trouble Food Lab. In November 2023, Lita was named one of Esquire’s Best New Restaurants, and earned a nomination for the James Beard Awards’ Best New Restaurant. In 2025, David was a semifinalist for the Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic James Beard Award, one of two recognitions for the entire state of New Jersey in the nomination list.

Born and raised in Little Lisboa (Newark’s Portuguese immigrant neighborhood), David spent afternoons with his grandmother, Isaura, who introduced him to many of the dishes that grace Lita’s Iberian-centric menu today. He turned his early love of food and hospitality into a storied career, rising through the ranks at Mesa Grill, Eleven Madison Park, Marea, and Villa Joya in Portugal. He joined the team at Heirloom Kitchen in 2016, quickly becoming an integral part of the operation, which led to his first James Beard Nomination in 2018 in the Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic category, and shortly thereafter was a contestant on Top Chef’s 16th season. As of most recently he can be seen on The Food Network competing on shows such as Tournament of Champions, Alex vs America, Guy’s Grocery Games and Beat Bobby Flay.

Along with a passion for changing the perception of Portuguese cooking in New Jersey and the United States as a whole, David is passionate about creating a welcoming workplace and fostering young talent. This led him to introduce a groundbreaking business model that focuses on the inequality of front of house versus back of house, where every hire at Lita rotates between the kitchen and floor. Calling them hospitality professionals, each staff member receives a base salary and tips are distributed equally amongst each individual. This constant drive for creativity and progress is a true testament to David’s dedication to his craft. When he’s not working, he is spending time with his son, Cole, teaching him to make fejauda and taking him to Yestercades.