GREENVILLE — The chef who brought Greenville its first and only prestigious Michelin star is opening a new restaurant, though this one won’t be quite as geared toward a fancy date night.
Joe Cash, the chef behind the acclaimed, French-inspired Scoundrel restaurant in downtown Greenville, will put his unique twist on Italian cuisine this December in a new spot in the heart of the West Greenville arts village.
Dootsie’s — the name a nod to his grandmother — is slated to open in December with five-day dinner service.
The restaurant will seat 77 and have an open kitchen with a glass-enclosed pasta room where fresh pasta will be rolled daily for all to see.
“Dootsie’s represents the next chapter of my life, and I want it to feel like a place that’s always been part of yours,” Cash said in a press release. “I think of it as Sunday dinner, a place where everyone is welcome, where the locals gather, where friends become family, and where you celebrate the moments, big and small, that bring people together.”
The restaurant will inhabit the renovated space on Pendleton Street that last housed Red at 28th, a nightclub that closed in 2023 after a fatal shooting prompted the city to revoke its permit.
The space had previously been home to Mac Arnold’s Plate Full O’ Blues music venue in the district that has steadily seen revitalization — and gentrification pressures — with a once-budding arts and dining scene that has come into full bloom.
In 2022, Cash opened Scoundrel on North Main Street across from ONE City Plaza to great fanfare, and it quickly became one of Greenville’s premier fine-dining spots.
Cash, a Taylors native, began his culinary career in Greenville before moving to New York’s Per Se and then to Copenhagen’s Noma. He returned to New York as chef de cuisine at Major Food Group’s The Pool.
In 2024, a year after being named to Esquire’s Best New Restaurant list, Scoundrel was nominated as a semifinalist for the prestigious James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant.
In 2025, he followed that accolade with an even bigger one: a Michelin star in the French tire company’s inaugural American South guide.
This year, Cash earned a James Beard finalist nomination for Best Chef: Southeast, and this month maintained Scoundrel’s Michelin star along with three other South Carolina restaurants.
In Dootsie’s, Cash aims to honor his family roots — with standout dishes like Dootsie’s Spaghetti, which is Cash’s version of his grandmother’s recipe with sirloin and bell pepper; fried house-pulled cheese with an optional caviar upgrade; and Ravioli Tre Volte with beef cheek, celery root and sauce bordelaise.
The new space was designed in collaboration with West Greenville interior designer Katie Skoloff of In Site Designs.
Dootsie’s puts a modern spin on old-world Italian style, with terracotta tones, tiled floors, creamy stucco walls and archways, according to the release. The pasta room sits at the heart of the restaurant, surrounded by handmade wood tables along with watercolors by Cash’s late aunt Mimi hanging on the wall.
