Chef Joe Cash returned to his hometown to open a French bistro, Scoundrel
When Joe Cash steps up to the plate, he comes out swinging. There’s no hesitation when he says he expects his restaurant to make the best food in Greenville. And while some might interpret this confidence as bravado, he does have the resume to back it up. From Thomas Keller’s Per Se in New York to Noma in Copenhagen (yes, that Noma), Cash has trained under some of the best culinary minds in the world. Now, the Greenville native has brought his expertise home via Scoundrel, a French bistro concept that opened in October in the former Handi spot at 18 North Main Street.
Cash grew up playing baseball at Eastside High School and working tables at the now-shuttered Lone Star Steakhouse on Congaree Road. After earning a culinary degree from Greenville Tech while working at 33 Liberty and Restaurant O, he headed to Charleston to get his feet wet, but found the culinary crowd lacked the ambition he craved. “Everyone just wanted to party,” Cash says, “whereas I would get off work and go read cookbooks and spend my days off teaching myself how to smoke ribs.”
With no job on the horizon, Cash packed his truck and left for New York City. But fortuitously, a trial at Keller’s three-Michelin-star restaurant Per Se turned into four years of invaluable experience. When Cash was ready to transition to something new, his boss connected him to the Noma team.
“Everything is insanely detailed,” Cash says of his time at the Copenhagen-based phenom, run by award-winning chef René Redzepi. “It changed my palate a lot coming from a French restaurant . . . . At Noma, you have twenty-plus courses and you feel full, but you could go walk a couple miles and enjoy the rest of your day. I realized how important it is to go home and feel comfortable after a meal.”
Cash returned to NYC in 2015, where he joined Major Food Group, eventually taking the role of executive chef of The Pool. But by the time COVID hit in 2020, Cash was ready to head home, start a family with his wife Jocelyn, and helm his own restaurant.
“Five years ago, I would have never considered it because I didn’t think people were ready,” Cash says of his hometown. “I think there’s a real hunger for high-end restaurants that do it well. No one is doing good, classic, down-the-middle, throwing-strikes, French cuisine. That’s where my background is anyway, and it’s something I love to eat.”
Via Scoundrel, a nod to the French term petit coquin or “little rascal,” Cash is focused on providing excellent fare via an approachable, unintimidating menu. Highlighting simple dishes like beef tartare, steak frites, and grilled shrimp, Cash’s strategy is a combination of sourcing excellent products while not cutting corners, especially when it comes to sauces and herbs.
“All of these things that so many people don’t really take the time to do, we take the time to do them, and we’re going to blow your mind because of it,” Cash says. “It’s not that we’re doing anything crazy new or special, we’re just taking the time to do everything very well.”
For more on Scoundrel or to book a table, visit scoundrelgvl.com
This fish dish, one of Chef Cash’s go-to recipes, may sound intimidating, but it’s not—just a half an hour and a handful of ingredients, and you’ll have a memorable meal full of fresh flavor and French flair.
Recipes from a Scoundrel
Black Bass à la Girardet
Serves 2-4
Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
2 lbs black bass, filleted with the skin on
1 shallot
2 cloves of garlic
¼ cup quality olive oil
½ cup white wine
Salt, to taste
1 lb butterball potatoes
Parsley sauce, to taste (recipe follows)
1 lemon
Instructions
- In a medium pot, bring 1 lb of unpeeled butterball potatoes to a simmer in cold salted water. Allow to cook until extremely tender, then keep hot in the cooking liquid until ready to serve.
- Preheat your broiler to the highest setting (500-550°F)
- In a medium sauté pan, layer thin slices of shallot and garlic to create a platform for the fish to sit on so that it does not touch the pan itself.
- Over the pan, liberally coat the fish in olive oil and season with salt. Once seasoned, place the fish skin-side-up on top of the shallots and garlic.
- Add white wine to the pan, enough to cover the shallots and submerge just the bottom halves of the fillet.
- Broil for 6 minutes and remove. (Your fish should be perfectly cooked, but thicker pieces may take closer to 8 minutes.)
- From there, remove the potatoes from the water and put them into a bowl. Crush with a fork to split them open and dress with half of the parsley sauce and some salt.
- Layer the potatoes on a large serving platter and place the fillets of fish on top. Dress with the remaining parsley sauce, lemon zest, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
Parsley Sauce
Ingredients
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch marjoram (oregano works as well)
1 cup quality olive oil
4 cloves of garlic
Salt, to taste
Instructions
- Make an ice bowl before you begin. Fill one bowl with ice and place another bowl directly on top of that ice. This will allow you to chill your sauce quickly once you add the herbs.
- Pick the leaves from your parsley and marjoram and slice them finely.
- Using a microplane, grate the garlic directly into a saucepot and cover with oil.
- While whisking, bring oil and garlic up over medium heat and begin to cook.
- When your garlic becomes fragrant and has a light golden color, add the sliced parsley and marjoram and continue stirring for 5 seconds (the oil should bubble when you add the herbs).
- Remove to the ice bowl and stir until sauce is chilled.
- Season lightly with salt and reserve.
