DALLAS Aurora, a fine-dining restaurant here, has reformatted its menu to emphasize local ingredients and lower prices by more than a third.
The new menu at the 56-seat restaurant was created “to reflect the new times,” said chef-owner Avner Samuel. Citing “a contracting economy and a new national focus on sustainable lifestyles,” Samuel said the new menu is about 35 percent lower in price than the bill of fare it replaced.
The restaurant also began offering a $16.95 three-course lunch.
Samuel said he was able to reduce his costs by featuring locally grown, certified organic ingredients prepared with classic French techniques. The chef said he thought the new pricing and menu would “maintain the essence of Aurora.”
Aurora’s old menu, for example, featured such dishes as a beef tenderloin pimente with seared foie gras and black-marble-truffle potato for $69. The newer menu has such lower-priced dishes such as Texas Diamond H Ranch caramelized quail with local herbs and organic heirloom potatoes and petit legumes for $27. Local ingredients are highlighted, such as a local cheese used in a shaved asparagus salad with roasted beets and maple syrup.
The restaurant also expanded its wine list to include certified organic sulfite-free wines.