dining out
Crème de la Crème
Lorena’s in Maplewood serves superb French food
WRITTEN BY ESTHER DAVIDOWITZ PHOTOGRAPHED BY CHRIS PEDOTA
VENISON SIRLOIN
W
hen was the last
time you dined in
a restaurant with
bread service?
Don’t even know
what bread service is because it’s
offered so rarely nowadays?
Go to Lorena’s, chef Humberto
Campos’ quietly elegant French res-
taurant in Maplewood, and enjoy not
only bread service — a server
offering a variety of bread options
tableside — but superb classic
French food.
34
HOLIDAY 2019 MILLBURN & SHORT HILLS MAGAZINE
Maplewood
LORENA’S
168 MAPLEWOOD AVE.
(973) 763-4460
RESTAURANTLORENA.COM
Don’t worry: Classic here doesn’t
mean food drenched in thick cream
sauces. Classic here means seasonal
cuisine created with classic tech-
niques using top-notch American
ingredients.
It also means that every aspect
of the dining experience is sweated
over — from the crisp white linen
on every table and the lush butter
made in Vermont and flecked with
fresh black pepper and gray salt in-
house to the sophisticated stemware
and wine decanters — even though
Lorena’s is a BYOB.
Is it any wonder that in its 14-year
history, Lorena’s — named after the
chef’s wife — has received myriad
accolades, including from Opentable.
com, which named it among the