Here's everything you can order at Joyce, Downtown Los Angeles' new south oasis

“Sacred” would not be too strong a word to describe the importance of one-pot rice dishes among the culinary traditions of the South Coast of the United States.

Their names (red rice, dirty rice, bog, jambalaya, hoppin' John, perloo) speak as much to the regional vernacular as they do to textural distinctions or traditional combinations of meat, seafood or legumes. Louisiana's famous creations, for example, tend to be fluffier or spicier than South Carolina swamp, which is as thick as the word suggests.

They all share heritage through generations of enslaved Africans and African Americans, many of them with origins in West Africa, where rice has been grown for thousands of years, transforming the tidal fields of the South into engineering marvels under cruel conditions and coded adaptive recipes in kitchens. where they worked.

Perloo is a highly spiced staple of the South Carolina Lowcountry, traditionally fortified with rich cattle. The word, of murky origin, is probably linked to the Indian pulao and Persian pilau through centuries of maritime trade routes. In “Gullah Geechee Home Cooking: Recipes From the Matriarch of Edisto Island,” Emily Meggett's essential book on Lowcountry's Sea Island Creole cuisine, she features a downright delicious chicken perloo, slathered in bacon grease and redoubled with salt pork. .

You don't see much perloo on restaurant menus, particularly in Los Angeles, but chef Sammy Monsour has built a career using his North Carolina roots as a worldview and springboard. At Joyce, the restaurant he opened with three partners last August in downtown Los Angeles, he brings back the porcine goodness and assembles his loose, layered interpretation of the dish around seafood.

Carolina Gold, a nutty-flavored long-grain rice variety grown on Edisto Island, is simmered in lobster broth and tomato broth with onion, garlic, green pepper and other aromatics. Between the cooked grains the tiger prawns peek out. Pieces of Spanish-style smoked chorizo ​​and shucked oysters have been scattered on the surface. Monsour's version is moister than most and takes on the pleasant consistency of rice porridge; Now that I think about it, it's more like the Carolina swamp. The presentation has a sense of generosity, in size and in spirit. Its flavors range from earthy to sweet seafood.

You could start dinners at Joyce with a seafood platter or small plates of coconut milk-braised kale and crispy, soft hushpuppies seasoned with crab and sharp chunks of fried catfish, with the Nashville-style hot chicken treatment. However, I find it difficult to deviate from perloo as a main dish. Partly because I enjoy it so much and also because it embodies the more focused aspects of Monsour's often abstract approach to southern coastal cuisines. Angelenos may remember his globally-minded approach during his four years at Preux & Proper, also downtown, which closed in 2020.

Their new project is located on a large block at the base of the Eighth & Grand apartments. The energy of the surrounding street, a sensible tableau of crowded sidewalks and constant traffic, creates a satisfying mood change when you enter the restaurant. The space, designed by Lauren Waters, has a relaxing fantasy that transcends the effervescent nighttime crowds. The light blue walls match the color of the benches upholstered in a material as soft as a security blanket. Woven dining chairs and wicker chandeliers casting orange light give the room an elegant feel.

Chef Sammy Monsour opened Joyce with three partners last August in downtown Los Angeles, where he serves a fried shrimp sandwich.

Inside Joyce, its plants and light blue walls are the hallmark of the restaurant's relaxing whimsy.

One wall of the dining room is lined with portraits of the restaurant's namesake, the mother of restaurateur Prince Riley, in different eras and fashions of her life.

Chef Sammy Monsour, bar manager Kassidy Wiggins and restaurateurs Athena Riley and Prince Riley in downtown Joyce.

Observe the trio of mounted portraits, by local artist Shannon Scates, depicting a woman at different ages and fashion periods in her life. That's the name of the restaurant and the mother of Prince Riley, who founded Joyce with his wife, Athena Riley. Prince has managed restaurants, most recently Old Crow Smokehouse, since college, and for the couple's first business he wanted to honor her mother's heritage: She was born in Alabama and raised in Georgia before moving to Chicago, where she grew up. Prince.

Teaming up with Monsour and beverage director Kassady Wiggins, who are also married, was a natural fit. Wiggins, a South Carolina native, embraces Joyce's thesis in her line of cocktails. She successfully modifies the Old-Fashioned using Maker's Mark 46; Woodford Reserve's sassafras and sorghum bitters, with their subtle root beer notes; and syrup made from toasted benne, the predecessor of the modern sesame cultivar with ties to West Africa and a long history in Charleston.

Their team of bartenders are equally skilled at making ice-cold gin martinis. They drink great alongside oyster dishes or other raw bar options, such as Hokkaido scallops on the half shell garnished with bright citrus-infused mirin, caramelized fennel sauce, and scattered benne seeds. The garnishes, especially the fennel, float to the point of overwhelming the scallops without completely falling over.

Joyce's Crispy Cheddar Baked Mac and Cheese is a favorite appetizer to start with.

(Stephanie Shih / for The Times)

As someone from the South, I admit that I prefer the already complex dishes of the region's various cuisines to retain a recognizable sense of place. So I gravitate toward Monsour's skillet full of crispy baked cheddary macaroni and cheese; the fried game hen glazed with honey and accompanied by angel cookies, small but impressive; and a simple smoked pork chop with grits, coffee jus (playing with red-eye sauce) and chowchow, the region's ubiquitous pickled condiment.

Sometimes dishes, like sticky racks of lamb glazed with a thick pomegranate molasses barbecue sauce and finished with fried rosemary and pickled persimmons, come out overstuffed, and an overly busy version of a Caesar salad might need one less ingredient. Elsewhere the seasoning needs adjusting: the spice mix in the shrimp cocktail is too salty and unnecessary, and the rockfish ceviche over mashed avocado and topped with pomegranate and pumpkin seeds could simply use more acid. I wish the crab baked under a blanket of Gruyere didn't taste so fishy.

For dessert, fritters are best to bring the meal full circle to welcome you back to basics. Its creamy, fresh-from-the-fryer pleasure doesn't need to rely on vanilla bourbon dulce de leche sauce, though it doesn't detract from it either.

Joyce is also open for lunch, a blessing in a time when midday dining options downtown have dwindled. The kitchen prepares a fun and messy spicy chicken sandwich paved with pimento cheese.

The restaurant has also found an audience for weekend brunch. Monsour leans in with the fun touches: a burger slathered with Duke's mayonnaise sweetened with maple syrup and cinnamon, avocado toast dressed with cucumber-mint salsa and drizzled with drizzles of benne tahini.

It's probably no surprise that I go straight for the slow-cooked collard greens and simple shrimp that arrive on pink-speckled grits made from a variety of corn aptly named Jimmy Red, grown on Edisto Island. .