Share for your Italian appetites with a side of cool jazz

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.

Its red Venetian plaster walls add the proper elements of patina and panache: The juxtaposition of Murano glass chandeliers and art-deco-inspired design along with a nautical stairway backlit by the golden glow of amber lights brings a contemporary glow to your journey to the second floor dining room.

Light defines this narrow slip of a restaurant whether it is filtered through the second floor windows looking out to the steeple of St. Philip's Church or controlled by rheostats as dusk dims to night.

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 la dolce vita.

Don Draper (of TV's "Mad Men") could walk right in and order a Canadian Club old-fashioned, and the bartender would not miss a beat. Equally at home would be the high-style fashion of Larika Page or the beachy palette of Lily Pulitzer.

Mercato opened to critical acclaim in 2006. Local restaurateur and renaissance man Hank Holliday (The Holliday Companies, Planters Inn, Peninsula Grill, Hank's Seafood Restaurant and City Market Renovation) commissioned architect Dan Sweeney of Stumphouse Architecture + Design and interior designer Amelia Handegan to transform this Market Street space. That they did in spades.

It is interesting to note that this address was once home to Chef & Clef, a restaurant and music venue that closed in 1998. Today with the cool jazz of Ann Caldwell, The Frank Duvall Trio and other performers, the specter of the Clef comes back to the home of a chef channeling Billie, Dizzy and more.

A remix took place in the kitchen. Executive chef Eddie Moran now is making music at his piano as chef Jacques Larson left for a new gig at Wild Olive Restaurant on Johns Island.

Much like those musical notes that reverberate through the two stories at Mercato, the spirit of Italian cooking caught Moran's attention early on in his career at Fab's Italian Kitchen. With stints at Bouchee, Cantinetta Luca, Aubergine and Jardiniere, Moran came east via Georgia and Bistro 491.

Appetizers were tweaked, and the second floor antipasto station keeps the bright red Berkel hard at work slicing paper-thin sheets of prosciutto and salume. The antipasti platter ($13.95) is a great way to start and changes out the typical mozzarella for the lush burrata, whose liquid center is cheese heaven. The platter is decked with a nice assortment of pickled vegetables -- foils for the fat of cheese and meat. Local peaches were partnered with prosciutto as a salad special; porgy was the catch of the day; and seasonal tomatoes were swirled with cucumbers for a refreshing swill of summertime soup.

The salads speak to all the seasons: fennel and radishes for spring ($6.95); chicory, walnuts, apples and Gorgonzola for fall ($8.95); a classic Caesar ($7.95) for winter's chill; and summer's iconic Caprese ($7.95) with house-made mozzarella and a little pesto added to the mix of tomatoes, cheese and a scattering of basil leaves.

Familiar Italian regional fare from Northern Italian tagliatelle Bolognese ($15.95) to Neapolitan lasagna ($14.95), Italian-American spaghetti and meatballs ($12.95) and the veal and chicken nations of scallopine, Marsala, piccata and parmesan ($15.95-$18.95) are on the menu.

We opted for the Roman classic, spaghetti carbonara ($13.95). We missed the blizzard of pepper that gives this dish its sting, but give kudus to the kitchen for anointing it with sauce restraint rather than flooding the pasta in a pool of white. The sharp edge of Pecorino Romano was absent. Its sheep's milk flavor notes define this dish.

The Saturday special of braised Berkshire pork shoulder ($19.95) was a plate of buckling pork flesh collapsing on a bed of Anson Mills polenta and slow braised greens. The pork was tender and flavor-rich but had those dry notes that braising can bring to a muscle as it surrenders to a collagen meltdown.

We shared all the portions to create a true Italian eating experience. Half-orders of select pastas are available, and a few pastas are made in-house -- not the extruded ones that included our spaghetti.

In the heat of this summer, we wanted fruit granita, semifreddo, affogato. On the dessert menu ($6-$8) are cheesecake, tiramisu, panna cotta and gelato. The panna cotta ($7) refreshed with its halo of fresh berries.

The service is polished, and the servers are informed and attentive. Too often, their own enthusiasm keeps them at the table too long; unhappiness for guests wanting to order a beverage or a meal. But better to suffer their solicitousness rather than indifference.

Mercato feels sophisticated but not pretentious. It is a welcoming spot. And for cool jazz and hot pasta, you cannot find fault.

Style and substance command "market" share, and Mercato deals both with equal measure.