Chefs' guilty pleasures: Neng Jr.'s owners dish their favorite, least favorite foods
ASHEVILLE - The hospitality industry dedicates countless hours to taking care of guests at their establishments, but rarely does the public get to know what their chef, server or bartender enjoys eating and drinking when not on the clock.
So, the Citizen Times has set out to find out their favorite ―– and least favorite — foods and beverages and preferred places to hang out after their restaurant closes and the last guest has left.
Chef Silver Iocovozzi and Wine Director Cherry Iocovozzi, co-owners of Neng Jr.’s, make the most of their downtime by dining at other local restaurants, unwinding in a speakeasy-style wine bar and spending quality time together with a comfort meal and martini made at their home.
That’s when the couple isn’t at their West Asheville restaurant at 701 Haywood Road.
On July 1, 2022, Neng Jr.’s, a 17-seat casual eatery, opened with a fine dining menu showcasing Filipinx food inspired by Silver Iocovozzi’s heritage and mother’s recipes.
Within a year, Neng Jr.’s and the chef have gained notoriety locally and nationally, featured in publications including Bon Appetit and The New York Times. Esquire named Silver Iocovozzi Rising Star of the Year, and Neng Jr.’s ranked No. 3 on the publication’s top 40 list of Best New Restaurants in America in 2022.
To top it off, Neng Jr.’s was a James Beard Award finalist for Best New Restaurant this year.
“I was over the moon,” Silver Iocovozzi said. “I was so honored to be able to achieve it with this team. It’s so deserving of it. The award ceremony itself was crazy. It was amazing being in a room with so many people I’ve looked up to for so long.”
Diners continue to seek out the modest restaurant ― sometimes literally as the off-the-beaten-path restaurant’s location requires diners to enter from the alleyway behind the building and up a flight of stairs. But the journey is worth it to get a taste of any of the rotating dishes and a craft cocktails on the menu and to see the chefs in action in the open kitchen.
Silver and Cherry Iocovozzi took a moment between farmers market trips and kitchen prep to share updates about their restaurant, as well as their guilty food pleasures and late-night cravings.
What are some of the highlights from the past year since opening Neng Jr.s?
Silver: There’s so many highs. This entire thing has been a high. The restaurant has been something I’ve been looking forward to building for a really long time in my career. Even just being a line cook, just being a dishwasher, I was interested in it right away as I stepped foot into kitchens.
I’ve gone through so much in a year ― I lost my dad in January. Cherry and I, we’ve been talking about how death changes you and it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad thing. But it does change you. That alone, plus the restaurant, I’m definitely a different person from when I opened to who I am right now, and that’s been the biggest high. The change of a person and the perspective of caretaking for staff, and a place where you want it to be a reflection of who you are.
Cherry: Learning about this team and watching them grow and develop. Some of the folks that we have on staff have been with us since the very beginning and to see it grow has been so beautiful. They all have their own sweet and wonderful relationships and have shown so much growth in their skills and the way they move through the space.
Silver: James Beard was amazing. Esquire, was like that initial congratulatory thing, like “OK, I think people are starting to get it.” Like validation. I think everybody who’s been part of the team believed in it from the gate, and I know we still feel that way today. But it’s nice to get any kind of nod. It’s really good for morale.
Neng Jr.’s has a rotating menu, but what has been popular this summer?
Silver: I really like this pickled shrimp dish that’s on. It encapsulates Neng’s, and it's a cross-section of Manila and living in the South and growing up in Eastern North Carolina going to the beach a lot. It’s like an oil pickle shrimp dish. It’s very low country. It’s like Old Bay and lots of onion, bay leaf and there’s a paste at the bottom that’s charred coconut ash and eggplant ash and a lot of root spices like galangal and lemongrass and ginger, and it’s all pounded to a fine paste and tastes really sweet, surprisingly. A lot of those flavors you would think would be overpowering, but it’s all nice and comes together.
Is there a particular dish that you most enjoy preparing or your favorite to eat?
Silver: I love simple preparations, but that requires a lot of mileage and technique. Even something as simple as a smoked chicken dish. My favorite thing to do is smoked meat. We have a pork belly chon that I feel very proud of. And, honestly, the duck adobo dish is my favorite. I smoked some duck yesterday, and it’s so delicious.
When you’re at home, what do you like to eat?
Silver: Steak.
Cherry: Pasta.
Silver: Cherry always wants pasta.
Cherry: I love pasta.
Silver: Cherry’s a really good cook, too. Cherry cooks a lot at home, which is really nice when I don’t feel like cooking. We like to get tacos. We make espresso martinis. Classic martinis. We’ll be out of martini stuff for a while then all of a sudden Cherry’s like, “I’ve got martini stuff!” And I’m like, ‘"Thank god. It’s a Sunday.” Sunday is our one day we truly have off ― and it’s such a nice day to have off ― so I’m grateful for that.
Any late-night eating?
Cherry: We’re almost every night having a midnight snack. Maybe ice cream, maybe something savory. Whatever is available.
Silver: Oh my god, I’ve been craving a grilled cheese lately. That’s got to happen today.
Cherry: I’ve been craving peanut butter and jelly like mad. I’m on a crazy PB and J kick. They’re so good. They’re easy and delicious and there’s protein and carbs.
Do you have any guilty pleasure foods?
Silver: We’re so overindulgent.
Cherry: We do not limit ourselves from indulging in what we want, ever.
Silver: What I like to eat when I’m alone … panang with rice. Panang is a really astringent but common Filipino condiment. It’s fermented shrimp paste. It’s so good and I love eating it plain with hot rice. Cold panang and hot rice.
Silver: Guilty pleasure, I’m thinking about if I’m in the car and I know I have to drive three or four hours, I always get Skittles, beef jerky and a Red Bull. I’m totally destroying myself in one sitting. But I love it. It’s my road trip food.
Do you have a least favorite dish or ingredient?
Silver: Beets. It’s one of those things where I feel like everyone’s crazy about kale. I feel like beets were in the same realm.
Cherry: Beets definitely had their moment. … I don’t mind them.
I don’t crave pizza and that’s what everyone thinks is weird about me. … It weighs me down.
Silver: Yeah, Cherry doesn’t really like pizza, and that sucks for me.
When you’re not at Neng Jr.’s and not at home, what’s your go-to spot for a meal or a drink?
Silver: Favorite bar, Pink Moon. But honestly, right now, it’s Tall John’s.
Cherry: Tall John’s is close to our house. Everyone there is so sweet and takes really good care of us. … The blue cheese-stuffed olive martini is so good. The roasted chicken is great.
Silver: And the pork schnitzel.
Silver: I also like getting the oysters at Jettie Rae’s (Oyster House).
What’s something people may be surprised to learn about you?
Silver: One thing about me is that I’m a collector ― (cassette) tapes, old audio equipment and old books. That’s where I pull a lot of inspiration from, the past. History. I love thinking about a brick, thinking about the patina about a place and the wear … how things break down over time. I have a lot of appreciation for antiques and the past, in that way.
Cherry has a bachelor’s degree in dance.
Cherry: I went to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and then to The New School. I grew up dancing, and I danced through and after college. I started taking adult ballet classes at a studio in Woodfin, and that was fun for me.
Silver: Cherry’s an amazing dancer and performer.
What's in the future for Neng Jr.'s?
Cherry: We’re working on an auxiliary space that will be for event purposes. It’ll be a private dining room for Neng if you want to host a larger party or gathering with us, but it’ll also be a wine shop when it’s not being rented out. There also will be some element of karaoke involved.
Silver: It’ll be a bottle shop during the day. The goal and inspiration behind the space is the karaoke bar where my parents met in the '80s. My mom was a singer and entertainer there and my dad was stationed there ― he was a Marine. It (will have) a simple Japanese backdrop, and a sweet interior. Bring in the old audio equipment and cord microphone like an old karaoke bar but also very Filipino, too.
Cherry: Filipinos love karaoke. It’s common to be sitting at a table and just singing.
Silver: Instead of this American style of karaoke where it gets crazy at the bar, which we love, too. But this makes it so subtle. But I’m sure both will happen in the space which will be really fun.
The bottle shop and additional dining room tentatively will open during the holiday season.
Food news you may have missed:
2023 James Beard Awards winners announced: Did Asheville restaurant win?
James Beard Award-winning chefs, culinary greats to unite in Asheville, Sept. 7-10
Neng Jr.’s
Where: 701 Haywood Road, Asheville.
Hours: 5:30-10 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday.
Info: Reservations recommended. Walk-ins welcome. For more, visit nengjrs.com and follow on Instagram at nengjrs.
Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at tkennell@citizentimes.com or follow her on Instagram @PrincessOfPage. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Neng Jr.'s chef, owners dish their favorite foods, restaurant updates
