The partnership behind Lilith has been in the making for more than a decade: Borges and DeStefano have worked side by side in kitchens testing breads and building trust.<\/p>\n
The two chefs first worked together at Bar Marco, the Strip District restaurant known for its ambitious cooking and equally ambitious workplace model<\/a>. DeStefano had been brought on as pastry chef in 2014 without the knowledge of Borges, who was leading the kitchen at the time.<\/p>\n The arrangement made for an awkward introduction. Borges had already been running the pastry program herself.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was her kitchen,\u201d DeStefano said. \u201cShe hadn\u2019t had any say in it. I felt like I was walking on eggshells.\u201d<\/p>\n The turning point came when Borges asked DeStefano to make bread. Specifically two Puerto Rican bakery staples Borges missed from childhood: pan sobao and Mallorca bread. Pittsburgh, unsurprisingly, did not have many versions.<\/p>\n DeStefano had never tasted either of them before. She researched them and started work.<\/p>\n The process became a careful back and forth between the two chefs. Each batch was met with detailed critique.<\/p>\n \u201cShe would be like, \u2018Okay, this is close, but it needs to be more oily,\u2019 or \u2018It needs more baking,\u2019\u201d DeStefano said.<\/p>\n DeStefano found herself chasing the elusive combination of oil, heat and timing that would make the bread finally work. After several rounds of testing, DeStefano landed on Borges\u2019 childhood memory of pan sobao \u2014 the soft Puerto Rican bread whose name loosely translates to \u201ckneaded\u201d or \u201cmassaged.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOne day I jumped out of excitement after tasting it,\u201d Borges said. \u201cI respect people who are proud of their craft and she showed me that.\u201d<\/p>\n The bread remains a staple on the menu at Lilith today. The impossibly soft pan sobao forms the base of the restaurant\u2019s lobster roll, brushed with olive oil and toasted until crisp at the edges. Lemony achiote dressing soaks through the fluffy bread.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\tFancy Lobster Rolls at Lilith include lobster salad, achiote aioli and herbs on pan sobao. Photo courtesy of Lilith.<\/p>\n The bread also appears as crostini served with tuna crudo, sliced thin, brushed with olive oil and sea salt, then baked slowly until crisp.<\/p>\n Over the next decade, Borges and DeStefano kept circling back to each other\u2019s kitchens, working together at places like Independent Brewing Co., Hidden Harbor and Lorelei. Those years of collaboration gradually shaped the cooking that would define Lilith.<\/p>\n By the time they began planning the restaurant, the menu almost wrote itself.<\/p>\n \u201cWe clearly come from different backgrounds,\u201d Borges said. \u201cOur style merges when we incorporate a bread or pastry component.\u201d<\/p>\n Borges grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico. DeStefano comes from an Italian American family whose cooking leaned heavily toward seafood. Lilith\u2019s food reflects both influences without strictly belonging to either tradition. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t call the food at Lilith traditional Puerto Rican food,\u201d DeStefano said. \u201cBut there\u2019s evidence of Puerto Ricanness.\u201d<\/p>\n Both chefs also came of age during the height of the farm-to-table movement.<\/p>\n \u201cThat certainly influences the way I cook and she bakes,\u201d Borges said.<\/p>\n The dishes at Lilith often pull from shared memories built over years of cooking together. The lobster roll, now one of the restaurant\u2019s most popular dishes, began as a one-off creation for a fundraiser in Lexington before Lilith even opened.\u00a0<\/p>\n A plate of yuca pierogi, one of the restaurant\u2019s most talked-about dishes, nods to Pittsburgh\u2019s Eastern European food heritage but swaps the traditional potato filling for the Caribbean root vegetable and serves it with romesco instead of sour cream. Seafood leads much of the menu, with dishes like swordfish in ginger-lemongrass broth with clams and taro root or tagliatelle layered with lobster broth, scallops and shrimp. Pastas weave Caribbean ingredients into Italian technique.\u00a0<\/p>\n Desserts follow a similar pattern of overlap. A passion fruit cheesecake topped with sesame brittle references a traditional Puerto Rican candy.\u00a0<\/p>\n A different kind of kitchen<\/p>\n Restaurant kitchens have long been associated with yelling, hierarchy and the occasional flying saut\u00e9 pan. Lilith runs on a different model.\u201cThere\u2019s no yelling,\u201d DeStefano said. \u201cEveryone gets along. Everyone works hard. There really isn\u2019t any drama.\u201d<\/p>\n Both chefs say that shift comes partly from time in the industry. After years in professional kitchens, the two say they are less interested in the ego and volatility that can dominate restaurant culture. For DeStefano, the atmosphere is also shaped by her experiences earlier in her career, when intense dedication to restaurants was often expected but not always recognized. Owning a restaurant meant building a kitchen where that dynamic would not repeat.\u201cI never wanted anyone to feel that way.\u201d<\/p>\n Borges says the partnership works because both chefs share a similar willingness to take on ambitious projects.<\/p>\n \u201cDianne is game for all my crazy ideas,\u201d Borges said. \u201cShe says yes to events in different states, for 900 people, for 10 people.\u201d<\/p>\n The two chefs also share a broader vision for hospitality that extends beyond the dining room.<\/p>\n \u201cWe care about not only cooking but the world,\u201d Borges said. \u201cWe want to raise money for nonprofits. We want to be involved in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n The restaurant\u2019s name offers another clue to the chefs\u2019 outlook.<\/p>\n Lilith, in Jewish folklore, was Adam\u2019s first wife, created equal to him, according to some interpretations, and later cast out of Eden after refusing to submit. Over time, the story twisted. Lilith became something darker in later traditions, recast as a demon \u2014 a warning about what happens when women refuse to behave.<\/p>\n \u201cWomen who are strong and misunderstood get demonized,\u201d DeStefano said.<\/p>\n \t\tSpirits at the bar sit behind a candle for the restaurant\u2019s namesake, Lilith. Photo by Vania Evangelique.<\/p>\n For Borges and DeStefano, the name felt fitting. Both chefs have spent decades navigating an industry still largely defined by male owners, male chefs and male-led restaurant groups. At Lilith, management and front-of-house staff are all women.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think women should be opening more restaurants,\u201d DeStefano said. \u201cIf you have the experience and you know what it takes to run a restaurant, you can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n The bigger vision<\/p>\n Lilith may be small, but the chefs are already thinking bigger.\u00a0<\/p>\n Where Lilith feels intimate and jewel-like, their next project, Giulia<\/a>, is envisioned as a larger, more energetic space with a more traditional dining room layout in Bloomfield. The menu will lean toward lighter and playful coastal Italian cooking, shaped by Borges\u2019 \u201cpescatarian passions\u201d and DeStefano\u2019s Sicilian roots.<\/p>\n There is plenty of room to explore Italy\u2019s regional traditions. \u201cIt is a coastal approach, and there\u2019s a lot of coast in Italy, \u201d Borges said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pasta will play a central role, with DeStefano planning to install two pasta extruders that will turn out fresh shapes throughout the night. The restaurant will still serve meat \u2014 \u201cit\u2019s Pittsburgh, after all,\u201d DeStefano said \u2014 but seafood will guide much of the menu. If construction and permits stay on track, Giulia could open by late summer at 4744 Liberty Ave.<\/p>\n Behind both restaurants is a larger plan. Borges and DeStefano hope to build a restaurant group, something still rare for women in Pittsburgh\u2019s restaurant industry. One future project may even be a bakery supplying bread across the group.<\/p>\n Early in her career, Borges says it was not always easy to find mentors who shared similar experiences. Over time, though, a small group of women in Pittsburgh\u2019s restaurant scene became trusted guides, including Sonja Finn of Dinette, Sherree Goldstein from Square Cafe and Kate Romane of Black Radish Kitchen, chefs she now considers both friends and informal mentors.<\/p>\n For now, though, DeStefano and Borges are still running Lilith every night. And when things go wrong, as they inevitably do in restaurants, they steady each other.<\/p>\n Once, a plumbing disaster threatened to shut the restaurant down for weeks. \u201cI called Jamilka in hysterics,\u201d DeStefano said. \u201cI was sobbing ceaselessly.\u201d<\/p>\n Borges stayed calm.<\/p>\n \u201cShe said, \u2018Okay, okay. Let\u2019s regroup. Let\u2019s calm down.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n As it turns out, balance may be the real recipe behind Lilith. \u201cThe smaller things are where I get worked up, and Jamilka doesn\u2019t,\u201d DeStefano said. \u201cThe bigger picture is when she worries, and I stay levelheaded. It just works out really perfectly.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tFebruary 26, 2026February 26, 2026\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/untitled-187.jpg\")
Dianne DeStefano. Photo by Vania Evangelique <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/untitled-199.jpg\")
Jamilka Borges. Vania Evangelique<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/lobster-rolls-lilith.jpeg\")
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Puerto Rican and Sicilian flags in the kitchen window of Lilith. Photo by Vania Evangelique<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/untitled-113.jpg\")
Photo by Vania Evangelique<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/untitled-220.jpg\")
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A stand mixer and its attachments, including a dough hook, inside the kitchen at Lilith. Photo by Vania Evangelique<\/p>\n
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