Antonio Berisha and his brother Afrim Berisha have named their new restaurant Lumi Zi. The small restaurant is located in a house near the Black River in Bedminster; it’s name means Black River in their home country of Albania. The restaurant serves eclectic cuisine such as tuna tartare, duck confit, trout almondine, filet mignon, bouillabaisse and pastas. They previously owned The Vine in Basking Ridge and Bistro Seventy Three in Bernardsville.
We were quite impressed when a tasty amuse of cannelloni beans, chopped onions and tomatoes on crispy bruschetta, along with herbed olive oil and an olive paste, were brought to the table. Additionally, the waiter had a large breadbasket with a choice of baguette, batard and foccacia. A chopped salad containing cherry tomatoes, romaine, creamy mozzarella, red pepper, chopped zucchini and avocado dressed with a red-wine vinaigrette could easily have been shared. A half portion of al dente pasta with Little Neck clams and pancetta was presented in a silver frying pan along with a bowl for the shells and a small bowl of red-pepper flakes allowing us to spice the pasta to our taste.The cod entrée was topped with Napa cabbage, frizzled leeks and Brussels sprouts surrounded by a mild yellow-curry sauce, a light and tasty combination of flavors. Sides of maple-syrup parsnip puree and sautéed Brussels sprouts with bacon were enjoyed more than our other entrée of dry, braised short ribs.
We cannot remember the last time we had bananas Foster, so when we saw it on the menu we knew that we would be ordering this retro dessert created in the early 50’s at Brennan’s in New Orleans. To our surprise it was made at our table. A mound of brown sugar and butter were melted, bananas added and then rum which was flambéed. This combination was poured over vanilla ice cream and was scrumptious.
Lumi Zi
252 Somerville Road
Bedminster
908-470-0400
BYO
Chopped salad.
Photo courtesy of Lowell Saferstein
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