Fabi and Rosi

Snails, crepes, schnitzel and paella on the same menu? A taste of Europe, service and all

By Mike Sutter
AMERICAN-STATESMAN RESTAURANT CRITIC
Wednesday, July 22, 2009

The first time I heard about Fabi and Rosi, the `European kitchen' that took over the former West Austin site of Zoot, it sounded like Epcot , interconnected small worlds engineered to please everyone and no one in particular. Snails, crêpes, schnitzel and paella, all on the same menu? No way that's going to work.

But it manages to work, mostly, thanks to German-born chef Wolfgang Murber and his wife, Cassie Williamson, an Austinite who met Murber when he was cooking on a private yacht in Spain. They opened Fabi and Rosi (pronounced `fab-ee and roe-zee,' after the couple's nephew and niece) in mid-May.

The border-hopping menu matches the eccentric-aunt decor. Imagine a world where tiny glass chandeliers share illumination chores with track lights and hanging glass candle ornaments. Where angular plastic blinds in smoke gray cover windows with heavy wooden frames. Where vintage-shop collections of mirrors hang on one wall and a stuffed white stag's head hangs on another. How else to accentuate a place with such a wide-ranging culinary mission?

A bracing amuse bouche (a free taste of something to start the meal at a nice place) of cool tomato and garlic gazpacho let us know the kitchen meant business, but the best way to relate our world table tour is by giving each dish its due.

Steam rose from a generous bowl of Spanish paella ($16) with perfect pearls of tomato-and-saffron rice interwoven with well-cooked ringlets of squid, tender shrimp and perfectly cooked clams and mussels, rich with flavor despite the tiny size of the meat.

French influences suffused the grilled leg of lamb ($21), carved into medallions and cooked rare, sauced with sweet port wine demi-glace and flavored with herbes de Provence, typically a mixture of thyme, savory, tarragon, lavender and other aromatic spices. The meat was exotic and flavorful, served with crisp haricots verts wrapped in bacon and a potato soufflé with a biscuitlike consistency.

I ordered escargot ($7) in part so my young children could tell their friends they ate snails. It was the only dish they didn't care for. That meant more for us: six perfectly tender snails broiled with sharp garlic butter.

German cuisine clocked in with schnitzel ($15) - tender pork loin pounded flat, breaded and fried to perfect crispness - served with firm spaetzle (squiggles of German pasta) and an earthy mushroom cream sauce.

On the down side, a simple roasted chicken ($14), a breast with a single bone, was undercooked, sticky on the teeth and bloody pink at the bone. It was served over a sweet sautéed mix of zucchini, red pepper and onion alongside stiff blossoms of starchy mashed potatoes. A salad of Belgian endive and chunks of bacon was unremarkable for $8.

The service was clipped and unsmiling, which is usually followed by `but efficient,' but we sat with mostly empty dinner plates for 15 minutes, the kids (and their parents) getting restless in the hot side room. And by hot, I mean my damp shirt was sticking to the chair at 8 p.m. It was 100 degrees outside, and Fabi and Rosi is in one of those old cottage-style houses that's tough to heat and cool.

Williamson herself stepped in to finish our table service, bringing desserts and coffee, clearing crumbs. Coffee came in a big French press for $3, good with a crisp slice of baked apple strudel, rich with cinnamon ($7). Belgian chocolate mousse ($6) seemed like an obligatory but pleasant offering.

I wish Williamson had been our waitress through the entire meal. Our actual waiter looked unsmilingly at us when we were seated with our kids. We didn't get much help with the wine list, unless you count a correction of my pronunciation for the glass I chose. The same waiter chatted easily about wine and gave recommendations to the table behind us - the one with the loud guy blathering on about prostate surgery. We didn't feel especially welcome, and I've gotten better service at the Outback (a region Fabi and Rosi doesn't cover).

A more sarcastic man would say that the uncomfortable heat and indifferent service only added to the authentic European experience. Unfortunately, it took away from the cooking of a chef for whom it really is a small world, after all.

msutter@statesman.com; 912-5902

Fabi and Rosi

509 Hearn St. 236-0642,

www.fabiandrosi.com.

Rating (fine dining):

Hours: 6 to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 6 to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Closed Sundays.

Prices: Starters $6 (house salad) to $12 (cheese trio). Main courses $12 (vegetarian shepherd's pie) to $21 (leg of lamb), averaging about $16. Desserts $6-$7.

Payment: All major cards

Bar: Wine and beer only. The wine list is short and European (France, Germany, Italy, Spain), with around 16 by the bottle ($22-$94) and about a dozen by the glass ($6-$12). Six beers by the bottle.

Wheelchair access: Call ahead.

What the ratings mean:

: Food, service, atmosphere and value suffer flaws on every level.

: Serious room for improvement, with a few bright spots.

: A good overall experience. Clear mission, solid execution.

: Excellent across the board. Perfect in some areas, with only a few small distractions.

: An extraordinary restaurant experience from start to finish.