Husband-and-wife duo Gianbattista “Gianba” and Marlo Vinzoni have relocated their Italian restaurant, Cinque Terre West ATX, from California to Austin. There, chef Gianba Vinzoni serves scratch-made dishes inspired by his heritage and Marlo Vinzoni runs the front-of-house. 

Together, they are serving up fresh food to locals in the Rosedale neighborhood starting in July.

A closer look: Gianba and Marlo Vinzoni lived in Pacific Palisades for 23 years, which is where they initially established Cinque Terre West in 2019. The couple then relocated the resturant to Venice before moving it to Austin. 

On the menu: Cinque Terre West ATX is open five nights a week serving food from scratch, including pastas that are made in-house daily. The restaurant offers dishes like Spaghetti Vongole E Bottarga made with Manila clams, garlic, Fresno chile, white wine, parsley and shaved dried mullet roes.

Staying local: Before the co-owners relocated Cinque Terre West from California to Austin, they partnered with comedian Tom Segura to open Ciccio Bomba.

• 4800 Burnet Road, Ste. 450, Austin

Picnik founder Naomi Seifter announced in an Instagram post that Picnik will shutter its doors on Burnet Road, effective immediately, in preparation for something new. 

Seifter will open a refreshed concept in its place, coming within the next 4-6 weeks. The new restaurant will “be the perfect representation of what we believe healthy, nourishing, health-promoting food should look like in a restaurant setting in 2026 and beyond,” Seifter said. 

The backstory: Seifter launched Picnik's first location in 2013, which was a 150-square-foot food trailer, according to Picnik's website. Her goal was to build a restaurant grounded in offering convenient, gluten free meals crafted with high quality ingredients. 

On the menu: Picnik’s menu served salads and bowls, tacos, burgers, chicken sandwiches, cashew queso, curried chicken salad and more. The restaurant also had all-day brunch offerings like pancakes, steak and eggs, avocado toast and brioche french toast. 

Stay tuned: More information about the new concept will be released in the next few weeks, according to Seifter. 

• 4801 Burnet Road, Austin

As more data centers are being built in Texas, the state’s water planning agency warns that limited information is available about the booming industry and its impact on water supplies.

The overview: The Texas Water Development Board adopted its initial 2027 State Water Plan on July 23, with a “more robust” version of the plan expected later this year. The plan consists of 3,000 water management projects and 6,700 strategies that experts say are needed to prepare for future severe droughts.

It will cost about $174 billion to complete the projects, according to the TWDB. However, if they are not implemented, a severe drought could cost the state $91 billion in economic damages as soon as 2030 and lead to $177 billion in annual losses by 2080.

The context: These projections do not account for the amount of water that data centers—which largely purchase their water from public systems—may use or how the large facilities could contribute to overall water availability. Right now, the board said it did not have enough information to do so.

Check out the latest transportation project updates across the Austin metro. 

Upcoming projects

Austin Light Rail vehicle design to advance under $39M contract with Stadler: Switzerland-based Stadler has been selected to deliver the train cars for Austin Light Rail, the third and final major vendor brought on for the project's first stages this year. Officials with the Austin Transit Partnership advanced a $39 million contract with Stadler to design the fully electric vehicles July 15.

Ongoing projects

North-south route coming to Round Rock’s west side: Residents on Round Rock’s west side will soon have a true alternative to I-35 once the city and county complete the full extension of Wyoming Springs Drive, officials said in June. Ongoing and future road projects are set to help drivers and pedestrians reach their destinations faster and with less traffic.

Completed projects

New bridge over Onion Creek opens in Buda, increasing city access: The bridge will provide community members and first responders a faster route to travel in the city, connecting Cole Springs Road with FM 2770.