Fabi and Rosi has been quietly winning fans in the beautiful, converted old house off Lake Austin Boulevard that Zoot vacated back in 2009. This space strikes the right balance of understated and romantic, right down to the lawn seating under little white lights. Inside, the feeling is calmer and more intimate than it is at other stylish restaurants, and the black-and-white wallpaper is both bold and elegant—très Parisian.

The menu is a blend of traditional European dishes and modern American nouvelle twists: excellent broiled escargots served in garlic butter, plump mussels in white wine broth, and the requisite, ho-hum seared scallop on root-veg purée. Texas-raised steak is expertly cooked and tender, while its frîtes are crispy and beautifully seasoned. Homemade charcuterie is solid. A jaeger schnitzel of locally farmed pork, sliced just right, is breaded lightly and fried in copious amounts of butter. It’s served with a mushroom sauce and well-made spätzle, but could use more mustard and caraway seed notes.

There are also some appropriate wines at good markups—Vouvray, Sancerre, Southern Rhône. Both it and the beer selection (no draft) could go further in providing some authentic Northern European pairing opportunities. Fabi and Rosi’s best pairing, perhaps, is its easy elegance and regionally faithful dishes.