Former Live Oak Café has transformed into a familial, yet stylish cucina These recessionary times likely have made you aware of "staycations." You stay at home and vacation in your own hometown. We would like to suggest that you issue your own culinary passport and tour the international and local cuisines available in this bounty we call the Lowcountry. Let your first stop be founding chef and partner Fred Neuville's latest venture, Wild Olive on Johns Island. The cuisine is rustic Italian and executive chef Todd Mazurek translates the regional idiom with skill. The former Live Oak Café has been transformed into a familial yet stylish cucina. The majestic live oak sparkles with white lights and your passage to the restaurant is framed with olive trees, Mediterranean herbs, vegetables, and a gurgling terra cotta orcio (urn). You are embraced by aromas of the Italian countryside. Dining options include the intimate porch, the kitchen view room, the comfortable front dining room, or the community table. Whitewashed wood and a chandelier of grape clusters demonstrate both whimsy and terroir. David Boatwright's murals add the patina of age to this modern renovation. The lighting casts a warm, cozy spell and the surround-sound of laughter is an apt barometer for the evening ahead. Chefs Neuville and Mazurek have crafted a well-conceived menu. The accent is Italian but progression and portion are decidedly American. The pasta courses are generous and can easily serve as your meal. Limited primi options are available in half and full portions. Integrity (their commitment to local, seasonal and green) and imagination meet on the plate. Subtle changes are made to the antipasti to keep them both familiar and intriguing. The Parmigiano-Reggiano is grilled in the Caesar salad ($6.95), the ubiquitous mussels of Rue de Jean fame are served with fennel and sun-dried tomatoes ($9.95) and the platter of cured meats ($13.95) are Italian in name but of local (CawCaw Creek) provenance. The bruschetta ($6.95) was a real treat. Thin slices of bread are buttered, oiled and grilled to a sturdy finish and served with a puree of white cannellini beans and chestnuts (think Tuscan humus), speck (a cured and smoked ham ), house-made mozzarella, grilled escarole and tomato. The flavors and textures complement each other and the "make your own concept" works. Wild Olive Cucina Italiana Cuisine: Italian. Category: Neighborhood Favorite. Phone: 737-4177. Address: 2867 Maybank Highway, Johns Island. Food: *** 1/2 Service: *** 1/2 Atmosphere: *** 1/2 Price: $-$$ Costs: Antipasti $5.95-$13.95; soups and salads $3.95-$6.95; primi (pastas and risotto and flatbread) $7.95-$17.95; secondi (entrees) $13.95-$25.95; contorni (vegetables) $3.95-$5.95; dolci (desserts) $6.95; kids menu $3.25-$925; Sunday Supper (house salad, spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread $15; house wine $3/glass); daily specials; bar menu $3.95-$14.95. Vegetarian Options: Yes. Bar: Full service bar; creative cocktails, digestifs, aperitifs. Hours: Bar 4 p.m.; dinner 5:30-10 p.m. daily. Decibel Level: Animated. Wheelchair Access: Yes. Parking: On premise. Other: Bar menu; www.wildoliverestaurant.com; reservations suggested for large groups and weekends; community table. The pastas are offered in entree-sized portions. The mushroom risotto and linguini in cream sauce were available as half and full portions. This surprised us; we expected pastas portioned Italian-style (small). To their credit you will find pastas here that are not on the menus all over town. Gnocchi are made with sweet potato and ricotta and topped with a sun-dried tomato and spinach ragu with a halo of seared scallops ($17.95); pappardelle, usually finished with heavy sauces of meat or game, are flavored with saffron and sauced with mussels, lemon, escarole and garlic butter ($14.95). You will find Taleggio (cheese) in the tagliatelle ($14.95), fettucine cut from black pepper pasta sheets ($13.95). Your tastebuds will not experience Italian fatigue here. The agnolotti ($15.95) are made in-house and are Italy's answer to pork and beans. A puree of white beans is seasoned with bacon and fills a toothsome pasta pillow. Shaped into half-moons and topped with a vodka-tomato cream sauce and tender shrimp, this dish was a study in gusto and finesse. The portata (short for portata di pranzo — a "course") keep the strengths of the Italian specialties diners have come to love: lasagna, eggplant parmesan, chicken cacciatore and veal cutlets. Here you can eat simply and well. But Wild Olive also offers veal skirt steak ($16.95) with Gorgonzola mashed potatoes and rainbow Swiss chard, osso bucco of venison ($24.95), chicken under a brick ($14.95) and chestnut flour-encrusted grouper. The latter demonstrated the vigorous attention to fresh seafood. Its minor fault — the beans were part tender, part al dente. Warm baskets of bread accompany your meal and its crust, flecked with salt and pepper, partners well with a pool of herbal olive oil. Main courses come with generous accompaniments and contorni (vegetable sides $3.95-$5.95) are easily shared. Save room for dessert as Wild Olive's dolci ($6.95) are some of the best conceived I have seen this year. The traditional form is respected but their tiramisu, panna cotta, semifreddo and granita are reconstructed with just the right ingredient twist. The chocolate and pistachio layered custard married decadence and innocence in every bite. The servers were engaged; informed and worked the dining room as a team. If the crowds of ballet flats and flip-flops, Choos and Chanels are any indication, Wild Olive is taming the appetite for Italian for Johns Island residents and beyond. Time for your passport and appetite to hit the road.

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