2012 is certainly off to a bang-up start! Our local culinary scene is in a state of transition with closings, relocations, transformations, and openings in the news. Several high-profile restaurants have closed, including the Downtown McCormick & Schmick's, the northwest location of Hoover's Cooking, Ilsa's Kitchen in Spicewood, and El Greco on Guadalupe. (Read­ers may recall that Fox series Kitchen Night­mares with chef Gordon Ramsay shot a segment at El Greco at summer's end – no word on whether that segment will air now that the restaurant has closed.) We're also advised that longtime Austin restaurateurs Jeffrey Weinberger and Ron and Peggy Weiss will close the Shoreline Grill (98 San Jacinto) on Jan. 31. Be sure to stop in for sustainable seafood, prime rib, and Chocolate Intemper­ance before the end of the month. Chef and restaurateur Foo Sawasdee reports she chose to close Get Sum Dim Sum in December in advance of a hefty rent increase. She's in lease negotiations for a newly empty campus-area location.

Brian O'Neill's transformation of Bistrot Mira­belle (8127 Mesa Ste. A-100) is now complete, with the addition of enticing plats du jour, a stellar Sunday brunch, a full liquor license, and a new wine dinner program... Restaurateurs Eddie Bernal and Cameron Lockley are busy transforming their former La Sombra Bar & Grill location into the new Gusto Italian Kitchen + Wine Bar (4800 Burnet Rd., www.gustoitaliankitchen.com), which is scheduled to open Jan. 16. Chef Susie Modiano has consulted on the development of an approachable Italian menu featuring items priced from $4 to $16. Bernal and Lockley are on the lookout for a more intimate location for the Latin-influenced La Sombra... Owners of the new Cafe Malta (3421 W. Willi­am Cannon) spotlight the similarities between Texas and the Mediterranean region with an inviting Tex-Med menu featuring dishes from Italy, Spain, southern France, Greece, and Morocco.

Nowhere is the burgeoning growth of the local food scene more evident than along South First Street from Riverside to Oltorf, long famous as Austin's Tex-Mex mile. Besides a variety of cuisines offered in four busy food trailer parks, intrepid diners can now choose JMueller BBQ (1502 S. First), where savvy barbecue fans know to come early Tuesdays through Saturdays; the new Elizabeth Street Cafe (509 W. Elizabeth near South First), serving reinterpreted Vietnamese dishes and fine French pastries; the recently relocated and remodeled Bouldin Creek Coffeehouse (1900 S. First); Todd Duplechan and Jessica Maher's new Lenoir (1807 S. First) opening Friday, Jan. 20; G's Dynamite Deli (2312 S. First) offering sandwiches and salads to eat in or take out; and the new El Tacorrido drive-through (2316 S. First), where our favorite coffee beverage is the house signature El Equi­nox, an iced horchata with a shot of espresso ($2.50). And that's not all: A Thai restaurant from the owners of La Condesa is slated to open later this year – talk about a restaurant row!

Residents in neighborhoods near North­cross Mall were happy to hear that the owners of Austin's homegrown grocery chain Fresh Plus will open an outlet in the space that was formerly home to Sun Harvest Farms and Sprouts Farmers Market (2917 W. Ander­son); Paul and Irene Beurskens hope to have the newest Fresh Plus open by the end of the month.