Mercato 102 N. Market Street Charleston, SC Phone: 843-722-6393   WELCOME|MENU|CHEF|MAP Jacques Larson When Jacques Larson was growing up in Peoria, he refused to eat food that wasn’t “red” – tomato sauce on pasta and anything with ketchup fit the bill. Raised in the Midwest in the 1970s, exotic foods were few and far between. But Larson’s mother, whose grandmother had emigrated from France, persisted in an effort to broaden his palate’s color palette. By the time he was in junior high, he became interested in expanding his appetite while observing and assisting her as she cooked. “I learned as much from my mother as from any chef I have ever worked for,” says Larson. As a sophomore at the University of Iowa, Larson interviewed at the Stateroom restaurant for a job. “You can cook or wash dishes,” the chef told him. Cooking his way through college, Larson earned a degree in English and History in 1994. Larson admits he became so entranced with his job that he occasionally skipped classes to be in the kitchen. Larson moved to Charleston in 1996, working at Planters Café, which later re-opened as Peninsula Grill. He enjoyed a position there as sous chef for nearly six years, helping executive chef Robert Carter make Peninsula Grill one of the most celebrated restaurants in the Southeast. Although he loved working at Peninsula Grill, “I thought about going to art school,” says Larson. “But I figured after ten years in the business I should take the leap to executive chef; art school would always be there.” After interviewing up and down the East Coast, Larson accepted a position as executive chef in Greensboro, North Carolina. At Basil’s Trattoria and Wine Bar, where he cooked Italian professionally for the first time , “I loved being in charge and being able to do my own food. That’s when I knew that I would be doing this forever.” “The more I studied Italian food, the more I fell in love with it, but I could only hack North Carolina for a year and a half.” So he returned to Charleston in 2003 to open the Italian restaurant Union Hall as partner and executive chef. There was a disconnect between the food and the name, which hurt business. Change in the ownership renamed the restaurant Cintra, which was critically very well received. Since leaving the Peninsula Grill, Larson had kept in touch with Hank Holliday. In the fall of 2005 Holliday informed Larson he had secured a space for an Italian restaurant. And they began discussing Larson’s possible role there. In preparation, Larson traveled to New York City to work with Mario Batali, and then cooked in restaurants throughout central and northern Italy, refining his authentic Italian hand. A few months after his return, the luxurious Mercato opened its doors with Larson as executive chef. There he whips up fresh Italian dishes with the occasional Lowcountry influence “like an Italian who happens to have moved to South Carolina.” He regularly puts in 17 hour days, but loves being at the helm of a cuisine he treasures. “It’s hard to believe I’ve been in this business for 15 years,” says Larson. “I’m always learning something new every day, as chef, about food, or as a manager.” Larson’s plans for the future are firmly vested in his culinary endeavors and in Charleston, where most of his large extended family resides. He loves relaxing on the beach and going for a bike ride, his schedule permitting. WELCOME|MENU|CHEF|MAP © 2004-2007 Feeding Frenzy, Inc™ All Rights Reserved. For a truly unforgettable dining experience, visit Mercato and remember to use your American Express Card.