Grits rarely show up on menus north of the Mason-Dixon, as they rely on consistently toasty temperatures to cook and achieve the smoothest texture if serenaded by a Southern gentleman. Give explorative grits a warm welcome with today’s Groupon: for $12, you get $25 worth of innovative low-country fare at Geechee Girl Rice Café.
Restaurant owner and chef Valerie Erwin keeps the Zagat-rated Geechee Girl Rice Café wheeling and dealing with the help of her four sisters and a tome of inherited low-country recipes. Saddle up for dinner and encourage taste buds to wade into the tangy waters of the Carolina pulled pork, a dish that skyrocketed shoulders into the pantheon of palatable joints with house-smoked and slow-roasted pork shoulder enlivened by coleslaw, barbecue black eyed peas, and cornbread ($17). To create the shrimp and grits, chefs sauté plump shrimps and sizzling shallots in a decadent sauce before hoisting the concoction onto a bed of stone-ground grits and verdant greens ($17).
Geechee Girl Rice Café’s Sunday brunch, served from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., tingles tonsils with intrepid entrees such as Senegalese chicken yassa with jasmine rice and sauteed greens ($17.50). Grilled pineapple with a ginger glaze ($5) is a sweet and spicy starter that recalls summer days spent slurping coladas while dancing in step to 42nd Street.