Photograph by Kevin A. Roberts
Tablet computers are now triple-digit hot, downsized cocktails are becoming the rage, and mini cupcakes are thankfully replacing their $7 counterparts, but tapas/small plates—despite predictions to the contrary—have never left. In some circles (like ours), the oxymoronic “larger small plate” is 2013’s unofficial new entrée. None of this is lost on Chuck Pener, owner of Momos Ouzaria Taverna and now Joyia Tapas in The Grove, where the only reason that patrons look up from their htipiti is the emergence of belly dancers, a six-night-per-week occurrence. With dishes like lamb tagine (with butternut squash, apricots, and orange rinds in a saffron broth), chorizo rollos with Kasseri cheese wrapped in phyllo, the most faintly breaded fritto misto in town, and delectable grilled baby octopi, Joyia is a celebration of all the flavors of the Mediterranean. If this small-plates thing ratchets down any farther, Pener may be tempted to serve such morsels on castanets.
4501 Manchester
The Grove
314-531-5300
Dinner nightly
