In the short history of this food blog, we have a reputation for spitting fire at other Charleston food writers. While most local food criticism is timid and parochial, I’d like to thank Jeff Allen of the Charleston City Paper for his incisive review of Mercato, the new Hank Holliday Jacques Larson Italian venture on the market.
http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A17479
Though his writing can border on the absurd (“Spaghetti alla Carbonara threaten(s) the stomach with deliciousness”…makes me wonder if he’s competing for the worst English sentence award http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/), Allen shows a real knowledge of what interesting Italian food should be and consequently how Mercato mostly fails to meet expectations.
Having eaten there last night with a big group, I’m left with the same feeling Mr. Allen had, (but which apparently his editors wouldn’t let him lead with): blah. The food is well prepared on the whole, but the menu is just really fucking boring. I had the Osso bucco, marinara pizza, eggplant appetizer, fried ricotta balls, gnocchi, orrechiette with sausage and broccoli, gnocco, flourless chocolate cake and peach sorbet. The pizza was terrible. Though thin crust, good Italian or new york style pizza crust is not supposed to taste like a cracker. It’s supposed to be thin, crisp on the outside, and doughy at the same time (I’m resisting the urge to go on a pizza diatribe here…just google ‘new haven pizza’). Mercato’s pizza was thin but white on the bottom, without the charred spots that mark a good wood or coal oven pizza, and lacked that doughy flavor (Al Di La’s pizza is way better. Also more interesting). Found the eggplant appetizer to be great: crisp, thin slices of grilled eggplant wrapped around ricotta (if I remember correctly) with balsamic vinegar and tomatoes. Simple, fresh, not trying to do more than it should. The fried ricotta balls, who’s bullshit Italian name I forget right now, were too much like pizza bites for me (anyone who’s ever had the joy of having to subsist on college cafeteria fare will know what I’m talking about) The gnocchi was good—tender, creamy, rich and light at the same time, like good gnocchi should be—but I guess I really just don’t like gnocchi that much. The combination of gnocchi with a cream or cheese sauce is overkill to me. The similarity of both, the richness of gnocchi and cheese or cream, doesn’t provide a counterpoint, taking away from each. (This is why fresh pepper is so important in Carbonara..Also, what is this trend of ravioli in broth, and why do people enjoy this. I’ve yet to be satisfied by an in brodo pasta preparation, though I will concede that this is one of the few creative, inspired options on the menu). The orecchiette was good, not oversauced, but $16 is a lot for what’s basically a smallish bowl of pasta. I liked the osso bucco. The fregula (on the side with the osso bucco) was interesting, though I think I liked it more in theory than in practice. As for the osso bucco, the meat wasn’t fall off the bone tender as advertised. Definitely good, but I did use my knife.
On a more positive note, the service was great. Attentive without being oversolicitous. Had a youngish guy with long, slicked back blonde hair. Kinda looked like Bowie in the late 70s in his thin white duke phase. By the way, this Bowie video is great, though a little later in his evolution.
The desserts, though fairly run of the mill (gelato, sorbet, panna cotta), were another bright spot. The peach sorbet was really great, with an underplayed, natural sweetness. The same for the gelato.
But back to the concept of the restaurant itself. Honestly, what are they thinking with the menu? I’d like to believe that this caliber of restauranteurs would try to introduce the unexpected, unexplored areas of Italian cuisine, and show the connection to regional influences i.e. chickpeas throughout the Mediterranean: Africa, Middle East, and Euro as an example. But this isn’t the case. They really just play to base, common expectations. As Mr. Allen points out, spaghetti and meatballs at I think $16 and chicken parm at $22 dollars are a joke, which is only heightened by listing them under Italian names. This place isn’t trying to be a garlic/red sauce palace like you’d see in Providence, New York, or south Philly, where parm and other northern Italian/Italian American fare are de rigueur. They’re trying to be an upscale, noveau Italian restaurant, where regional cuisine is introduced, and at this they fail miserably. A place like Lupa, which I used to frequent when I lived in New York, wasn’t particularly expensive, but had interesting, authentic regional dishes: bavette cacio y pepe (pasta with cheese and black pepper), bucatini alla amatriciana, lamb shank with figs. The same for Osteria del Sole, which brought some Sardinian flare. And even Babbo, though certainly in a different class of restaurants, has unique dishes – fresh grilled sardines, beef cheek ravioli, whole fresh branzino with lemon-thyme jam, things that could be replicated, at least in spirit, at Mercato. These places have signature dishes, things that you remember eating for years. I’m not sure there’s anything unique and definitive at Mercato, that I’ll be telling people they must eat before they go, that I’ll remember in a year’s time.
This is all the more disappointing given the hype surrounding Mercato’s opening. Jacques Larson, the chef, used to be the head chef at Cintra, where they served interesting, unique Italian food: gnocci with lemon rind and pine nuts sticks in my memory. Even the Bolognese was bright and rich, not the leaden, heavy mess found at some places…ahem…Al Di La. For those who don’t know, Larson left Cintra under contentious circumstances. While he supposedly quit/got out of his contract at Cintra to cook the line at Lupa with Batali in New York, and to travel around Italy, I’ve heard that this was just a ruse to be part of Holliday’s new venture, and he only lasted about two weeks with Batali, for whatever reason. While I’m fine with this kind of Kitchen Confidential backstabbing, I wish he would bring some of the flair from Cintra and Lupa to Mercato.
I thought the part about the gnocchi was funny because I happen to know that gnocca is an “ italian slang word …
by the way they said gnocco, which is slang for nothing, it is slang for a cheese dip
Finally an honest reviewer in Charleston! Since Holly Herrick left the P&C I’ve yet to read a really honest restaurant reveiw here. Both the P&C and especially the City Paper rely on that advertising revenue so giving a truly honest review of a crappy meal has its consequences. I admire you for your brutal honesty and will forward this blog to everyone I know in town.
Jeff Allen is constantly brutally honest of his opinion. Now don’t get me wrong, it has nothing to do with his integrity, most of the time he is just a pompous asshole, and I wouldn’t take his words with a grain of salt, but he nor the city paper hold anything back because of advertising, for further proof look at the recent review of blossoms
Mercato … smells like a dumpster
Dang Hawkes.
Are you the Ian Hawkes that I know?
Thanks for the post Rich. We try to be honest, and where biased, we try to disclose those as well. I actually read the City Paper review after eating there, and the first thing that popped into my head was ‘this is a Hank Holliday (Peninsula Grill/Hank’s) restaurant, and they really can’t give a fully honest review because of the repercussions.’
Anyway, our goal is to be real. You may not agree with all our opinions, but you won’t have to worry that personal/professional relationships cloud the opinion (if I know the owner, the bartender, the waiter etc, I will make that clear in the review).
Also, feel free to add your opinions or recommendations, whether or not they’re in line with ours. There should be more voices out there than the City Paper and the P&C.
Abu Dakhm
ps. it’s not that mercato is bad per se, but given the hype and it’s place in the charleston dining scene, i don’t think it lives up to expectations (though with Jacques it has potential). With Al Di La, Cintra, and Il Cortile already doing upscale Italian food, I think they have to step up their menu, specifcally in the pasta area. However, it’s a fine line between blazing a trail and sticking to basics, and with 4 mil into the building alone, my guess is they’re not pushing the envelope.
Anyway, would like to have tried the whole fish option on the menu, but other than that, I don’t have any qualifications of my review. They definitely need to learn how to make pizza. Both Al Di La and EVO at the Farmers Market do better, not to mention all the other places like Andolini’s, Mellow Mushroom, which are in a different category.
No. That Hawkes was in fact one Ross Miller pretending to be me–the real Ian Hawkes.
Pretty good site E.
Mercato is superb !! Ambience,decor and food are superior…a much needed Italian shot in the arm for a rather bland Charleston dining scene.Jacques Larsen is one of Charleston’s very best chefs !!
The City Paper review is rather irrelevant inasmuch as Mercato had barely opened when they sent in reviewer.What restaurant doesn’t have kinks to work out ?
Geo
To the “rottenoysters” reviewer who has more rotten, and I might speculate,alterior, motives than Mercato has viable dishes: Where is shown your reliability in the 9/16 review? And, by the way, does “rottenoysters” describe the way your writing reeks up the page?
Your food knowledge is either lacking or intentionally absent. Accordingly, I will set aside food knowledge to singularly critique your article’s literary qualities.
To start, you nominate a Jeff Allen sentence for the worst sentence in the English language, yet you do not punctuate your own sentence correctly. Where does one begin to correct this sentence: “Though his writing can border on the absurd (“Spaghetti alla Carbonara threaten(s) the stomach with deliciousness”…makes me wonder if he’s competing for the worst English sentence award http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/), Allen shows a real knowledge of what interesting Italian food should be and consequently how Mercato mostly fails to meet expectations.?”
Your sentence, more than Allen’s, is a syntactical disaster. Awkward wording and atrocious punctuation mark this ill-fated, overdrawn sentence as a greater failure of language than the very sentence it is criticizing. One can hardly follow the thought therein, let alone that thought which is unsuccessfully injected by the author.
My God, upon further analysis, your article is too rife with linguistic and grammatical/mechanical errors to immediately indulge. The voice in this piece is truly unreliable, e.g., “if I remember correctly.”
P.S. If you are going to assert that Larson “left Cintra under contentious circumstances” to go “cook the line at Lupa with Batali in New York,” and “(Larson) only lasted about two weeks with Batali,” you need to cite your source for these serious accusations. What constitutes “contentious circumstances?” I look forward to your response, clarification, and source citation for this piece.
Sean Keller
Sean,
I’m sorry you didn’t like this review. (actually, I’m not sorry, but isn’t conceding something minor a good rhetorical strategy…I don’t have my Aristotle or E.B. White handy).
As to your most salient point, I don’t have any ‘alterior’ or ulterior motives, though with the thinly veiled vitriol I’m left wondering about you. The best way to check our reliability is to eat at Mercato or read other reviews of the restaurant. If we didn’t create, we are in line with the general consensus.
In terms of your critique, the comment about food knowledge is laughable. In the review I set out certain criteria for an upscale Italian restaurant, and I hold Mercato to those criteria. Given the pedigree of Jacques Larson and Hank Holliday, it’s hard to see Mercato as anything but a disappointment. You may disagree with my criteria, or with my placement of Mercato in the larger Italian restaurant universe i.e. comparisons with New York and Italian regional cuisine, but don’t say the knowledge is lacking. It’s fine if you think my taste is bad, but it’s hard to deny it exists (unless, of course, you haven’t eaten at the restaurant in question.)
Anyway…
Your food critique is without substance or intentionally vague. Accordingly, I will set aside concealed ad hominem attacks to (why did you use singularly in your comment, that’s a little overwrought) address the literary requirements of a blog.
Language is always changing, evolving: Creole, rap, even Shakespeare are evidence of evolution. Though chaotic, this is not a completely undirected process, and that’s a good thing. People should push the envelope sometimes. Maybe I’m glad to have you as some sort of rear guard, but it doesn’t have to be the red and the white, sans culottes and royalistes. I’m not a Derridian or a relativist, but if there’s any place to play with language, it’s a blog. People should use language, not always be used by it. It’s more dynamic that way.
In terms of the sentence in question, it’s really just a dependent (or maybe a subordinate) clause, followed by a parenthetical (there are no footnotes in blogs, hence the problem) followed by two independent clauses joined by a conjunction. Clumsy? Yes. Unintelligible? No. Do you really think food can threaten the stomach? If so, can you threaten anything with deliciousness (tempt would be the better choice)? By the way, can a sentence be ‘ill fated?’
And in terms of reliability, the phrase you quote was in reference to a piece of cheese, and whether it was ricotta or some more obscure, semi-soft mild Italian cheese whose name I don’t remember or know. Functionally, it doesn’t matter. I know Iowans take their cheese seriously, but I liked the dish, so who cares?
As for Larson and Cintra, to a degree it’s hearsay, though from a reliable source, off the record (isn’t page six hearsay? isn’t gawker.com?) Obviously you should take it as such, but if you’re curious, look at the chronology. Larson left Cintra for Lupa, quitting his job as executive chef in Charleston to cook the line in New York. Seemingly a step down, no? Larson claimed he had to make the move to advance his career long term, and that he would like to return to Charleston in the distant future. However, after Lupa and a brief jaunt to Italy, he was back to open a restaurant with a competing owner in a similar location. At best, it was fortuitous that he was allowed out of his contract at Cintra ‘to advance his career’ (the implication being he would have to leave Charleston for a long while) and managed to find a new restaurant gig in Charleston within a few months. Ultimately, though, this is inside politics. No one would care if his restaurant were up to snuff.
Anyway, I guess that’s enough refutation. If the piece is truly unintelligible, I hope you can find the time to indulge (or maybe punish) at a later date. It threatens the brain with enlightenment if given the chance.
Abu D.
Ps: Why do people resort to glossolalia, almost, when attacking our blog posts? The writing is so stilted: “Singularly critique your article’s literary qualities” and “that thought which is unsuccessfully injected by the author,” not to mention the refusal of conjunctions and the repeated use of ‘one’ by Citoyen Keller. And can you inject a thought, Mr. Quaid? (Total Recall reference for the movie/Philip K. Dick buffs).
What strikes me as hilarious irony, Sean, is that you basically spend your entire comment on Abu Dakhm’s Mercato review bashing (or atleast talking about how you could bash) his writing style while your writing is stilted, barely intelligible, and full of grammatical problems. And you can hardly spell to boot (shit, I just started a sentence with “And”–sorry Sean). I’m not sure if you are completely unfamiliar with the purpose of a blog, though I can tell you it is not like an essay that you would write, say, in middle school–on a blog grammar and puncuation can be used a little less formally. To me (and I’m biased), Abu D’s Mercato review is in line with the rest of Mercato’s reviews while being informative, funny, and most of all, very well written. What have you written? Or is all of your work simply spent embarrassing yourself by trolling on other’s blogs?
Tito
I tend to agree with keller’s “devastating” “critique”. This article should never have passed the peer-review process. Given the authors’ clear liberal bias and anti-war stance, I view their negative assessment of Mercato with skepticism. In all, it doesn’t pass the smell test. If there’s one thing that I do know, it’s that small errors in methodology or ambiguity of phrasing immediately throw the conclusions out the window. If, however, Rotten Oysters were written in 1337, then that would be teh r0>
adn th3y totally would have “pwnd” Sean Ke11er !!
This place is cursed because of the big painting in the bar. If you’ve been there you would know, the giant painting of the victorian era circus clowns. I’m not the only one whose noticed this but those clowns are evil looking to the point of satanic and when you first look at that painting it just creates a feeling of unease. This is primary the reason why I haven’t returned to Mercato. Whoever decided to put that painting there has some really bad taste.
Uh, your info on Larson is bunk. His deal was cut with Holliday BEFORE he left to work for Batali. It was all part of a brilliant marketing plan.
Not sure if the Slappy from this comment is Mrs. Barna or just someone at the City Paper.
This is basically what I was implying, that there was an inside deal which his original employer didn’t know about. The point is that he left Cintra under contentious circumstances/false pretenses to work for a competitor, and whether Lupa/Batali was an after the fact excuse or simply good cover to take advantage of a new opportunity doesn’t really matter.
Although crude, I have to agree with what the Captain wrote. However, I guess its been deleted.
I suggest the uninformed grammar critic leaves his basement desk in the library and checks out the 21st century internet fad known as a blog.
And to the blogger, your reviews bring a unique, relaxed style. Writing in a conversation style is what blogs are for, it just happens to be that your site reviews fine dining. I enjoy it, and obviously others do as well.
I am going back to Mercato tonight for the second time, the first time being about 3 weeks ago. I come from a very Italian and very culinary oriented family, and must disagree with your review only in that you don’t give the Osso Bucco enough credit. I thought it with the fregula was extremely unique, tasty, and complemented each other nicely. I suggest you maybe revisit as they have also obviously worked out some of the kinks you have cited. I thought the pizza was actually close to what you say you personally desire in a real Italian pizza.
I understand what you mean about remembering dishes for a life time. However, I do believe that the same brilliant marketing that went into Larsen’s lead up to opening Mercato went into having dishes such as Spaghetti and Meatballs on Market St., such a popular tourist destination. Per my visit a few weeks ago, they also seemed to bring some uniqueness to the menu, especially with the desserts. The Cucumber sorbet was awesome.
Goddamn I love this blog.
If you want to review the food, that’s great. It’s when you bring the personal bullshit in at the end that you expose to others what an ignorant jackass you truly are. Check your facts. Furthermore, as far as the menu is concerned, maybe you should stick to the foods that you like instead of knowingly going for those things you apparently have no palate for.
I don’t understand the antipathy, Jane Wells. It’s a blog, so they’re personal, and I really believe that the personal isht can give a window into my palate and help clarify our taste, bias etc.
If you’d like to discuss why you like Mercato, specifically its menu or the ‘facts’, please be constructive. If my gossip is incorrect, clarification instead of aspersions.
Thanks.
Abu D.
you have terrible blog manners, jane wells.
tito
Several months ago I dined at Mercato with a group of foodies. I had the opportunity to taste a number of menu offerings and was happy with the samplings until I received my main course, a veal dish that had been rendered inedible by a near-lethal dose of salt.
Ha ha ha. I know – welcome to last month). I just have to say, I think your review was dead-on. Bravo. [I just found this blog today. . .it’s so #$&*( good, I could scream. Matter of fact, I think I I will – ahhhhhhhhhhhhrrrrggghhhhh!]
When she moved in with me she was scared of everything, she refused to try anything difficult and new, she was incapable of trusting her own judgment. ,
rotten.e – i know you posted this FOREVER ago, but i actually love the food at mercato. it’s the service that i hate and will NEVER go back to this restaurant again because of the ahole employees (manager included). grr.
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