Dining Reviews	Lunch Counter	Restaurant Guide

E-mail story

comment

Printer-friendly version

Italian

Deidre Schipani

Wade Spees
The Post and Courier

Shrimp limoncello prepared by chef Michael Scognamiglio in the wood-fired oven at Bacco in Mount Pleasant.

'Italian" restaurant has morphed to ristorante, osteria and trattoria. It has taken our tastebuds on a tour of Italy, exploring through food its regions and recipes.

Roman bruschetta, Tuscan crostini, Genoese pesto, Parm ham, Neapolitan pizza, tiramisu from Florence via Siena, Sicilian cannoli, local gelato — our appetite for Italian is matched by the abbondanza of restaurants throughout the Lowcountry.

Al Di La

25 Magnolia Road, West Ashley

571-2321

www.aldilarestaurant.com

$-$$

A perennial favorite, Al Di La dishes up Italian favorites in a trattoria atmosphere.

The kitchen is able to hit the sweet spots of al dente and tender with equal aplomb. It straddles being a neighborhood restaurant and being a destination for northern Italian cooking with sprezatura (the appearance of ease). It has weathered the change of ownership from the talented and gifted John Marshall to the capable Mark Kohn and the loss of sous chef Michael Scognamiglio to his own southern Italian eatery, Bacco. The kitchen has not missed a beat. It favors consistency over innovation but has enough twists to keep the interest of its "regulars." The cooking is competent, the flavors are pure and the presentation bears the Italian refinement of simplicity. The servers know their way around the menu, and the concise wine list marries the wines to the foods.

Al Di La can serve up a side of romance with an equal portion of homey familiarity. Is it any wonder why there is always a line at the door?

Mercato

102 N. Market St., Charleston

722-6393

www.mercatocharleston.com

$$-$$$

Mercato has the good looks and hip vibe of a Manhattan restaurant positioned in a landscape of Southern charm and graciousness. It is a smartly designed space. The setting is seductive and romantic, and yet when one is wrapped in the soft leather of the half-moon booths, families, friends and couples can share in the dolce vita. The food coming out of the kitchen speaks with French rigor and Italian simplicity.

The service is polished, and the servers are informed and enthusiastic. Mercato feels sophisticated but not pretentious.

There is artistry on the plate balanced by talent in the kitchen.

Lasagna with ricotta, sausage, house-made mozzarella and marinara sauce is nearly Napoleonic, and that refers to the dessert, not the French general. Light, taut and minimally layered, it is a standard-bearer for Italian foods properly presented. Crispy fritters of suppli alla telefono (rice balls stuffed with mozzarella cheese) are strategically positioned on a rectangular plate, drizzled with basil oil and splattered, like a Jackson Pollock canvas, with tomato sauce.

Pastas here have muscle, and the desserts have intensity. Style and substance commands "market" share.

Bacco

976 Houston Northcutt Blvd., Suite O, Mount Pleasant

884-6969

$-$$

Bacco is a small Mount Pleasant restaurant whose chef-owner, Michael Scognamiglio, has learned his lessons well from his experience with John Marshall and Al Di La.

The restaurant's compass is decidedly Italian, pointing south on the country's boot along with some Roman and Sicilian influences. Refinement and restraint describe the menu selections.

Antipasti are as simple as fire-roasted olives or mozzarella in carrozza, a bread "carriage" transporting molten cheese. Pastas are made in-house as is the sausage. The pasta e fagioli uses the shell-shaped conchiglie pasta and barlotti beans and finishes the dish with mussels, a nice reflection of Bacco's coastal location.

The secondi demonstrate the simplicity of Italian cooking: roasted sausage wrapped in smoked mozzarella cheese accompanied by crisped potatoes and grilled fennel, or a simple dish of pan-roasted swordfish with capers, raisins and pine nuts.

Knowledgeable servers, a precise Italian wine list and a simple menu of dolci demonstrate that a restaurant need not be formal or fussy to be good. Bacco, a new player in the firmament of Italian eateries, delights.