Prelog’s and Cantine Charm Odam and Wood

Prelog’s serves as the pillar of the changing area’s shinier direction to The Statesman’s Matthew Odam. Housed in Austin chef David Garrido’s old flagship, the new restaurant offers cuisine centered on an Austin meets Austria vibe, where Texas’ laidback nature blends with European fine dining. That led to the creation of the Time For a Smoke entree.

Welcome to barbecued brisket, Vienna-style. The excellent dish, which also included a rosy medium rare petite tender, popcorn crumble and eggplant puree ($32), is chef Florian Prelog’s homage to his recently adopted hometown.

Over on The Chronicle, Virginia B. Wood checked out Cantine from Emmett and Lisa Fox and found their latest project to be just as good as the others. Brunch was the real winner for her, where every dish gleamed bright.

The standout brunch dish is likely to be a revelation to Austin diners who have never encountered shakshuka ($12, $15 with chorizo). The popular Israeli breakfast dish offers up eggs baked in a casserole with two very spicy sauces, a bright red harissa tomato sauce, and brilliant green z'hug, a fiery green-pepper concoction made with garlic and cilantro. This tasty bowl of combustion comes with pieces of pita for sopping up the sauces. It's for folks who really want breakfast to give the taste buds a wake-up call.

Austin Monthly’s Jolene Bouchon found Italic’s offerings to be uneven. Along with similar complaints about the unavoidable loudness and chilly interior, the food has its ups and downs. The good: happy hour foccacia sandwiches, vegetables, and seafood. The bad: some of the pasta dishes and that Italian staple pizza:

The lamb sausage was tender and well seasoned, but the sauce was a mere stain and the crust, though well blistered, was oddly orange and dry—a bummer considering the quality of the other breads.

THE BLOGS: South Austin Foodie tried Pie Plante’s pies by invitation, Forks Up shared The Chronicle’s take on Cantine, Dine with Shayda loved the sweet buns at Phil's Icehouse, and Mike Sutter’s taco journey took him to Cilantro's (not to be confused with Chil'Lantro), Taqueria La Chilanguita, Taqueria Los Altos, El Chile, Casa Maria, Restaurant El Rey, and Taqueria Adelita’s.