As you probably know by now, Lisa Garza of Dallas’ Suze restaurant was in the final three of the Food Network competition series. So did she win?

Nope.

Aaron won. Bad choice, but oh well! At least you read it here first… unless you logged onto the Food Network’s Web site last week and found out early. 

I’ve really enjoyed Scene, the restaurant in Downtown’s Mosaic loft building from chef Blaine Staniford. At least I did until it closed suddenly two weeks ago. Now comes word from Staniford that his and partner Michael Bratcher have also left their other Downtown eatery, the wonderful Fuse (which has often hosted gay happy hours). Fuse will remain open — without Blaine, who assures me the duo are working on new concepts.

Until then, there are two new restaurants open in One Arts Plaza: Scott Jones’s Screen Door and Paul Pinnell’s Dali Wine Bar. You can read my reviews this week here.

And Stephan Pyles is helping to redo the menu at 1717, the luncheon spot inside the DMA. I’m checking it out next week and will have a report in a future issue.

Louisiana recently recognized the Sazerac — a mix of rye whiskey, bitters, absinthe and lemon — as the official cocktail of the City of New Orleans. Hearing this got me thinking: What makes a particular drink the beverage of an area? (Notably not the official drink of the Big Easy: The hurricane.)

So I’m gonna put it out there: What would be the ideal cocktail for Oak Lawn/Cedar Springs/Uptown? It can be preexisting or you can make it up. What about it? What cocktail identifies us best?

In the latest Forbes magazine, Dallas is listed as the fourth most billionaire-populous city in the U.S., and ninth overall in the world. Makes sense: Dallas is a high-tech mecca, an oilman’s paradise (Houston didn’t make the top 10) and is home to the highest high-end retailer on the planet (Neiman Marcus). Our real estate market, famously, has not tanked like other cities. There’s money here, no doubt.

So what accounts for this backward jibe: “Where do Dallas’ wealthiest dine? World-class chefs like Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio and sushi maestro Nobu Matsuhisa have set up lavish outposts in this unlikely gourmet destination.” (Italics mine.)

What is so unlikely about Dallas as a gourmet destination? Does Forbes’ editor not read Esquire, which has twice in a row named Dallas restaurants the best in the country? Does his idea of Southwestern cuisine begin and end with pale imitator Bobby Flay, instead of with Stephan Pyles, Avner Samuel and Dean Fearing (two of whom were owners of the top Esquire restaurants, not by accident)? How many four-star hotel restaurants does one city need before it’s considered a likely destination? It’s not all barbecue and enchiladas down here, guys; we’ve even been known to drink white wine.

Avner Samuel, the temperamental genius behind Oak Lawn’s most elegant — and perhaps priciest — restaurant, Aurora, has announced a change that might seem negligible to some, but trust us: It’s a big deal.

Aurora, which specializes in French-style cuisine in small but satisfying portions, has apparently felt the economic pinch the rest of us have. In a press release from his rep, Samuel will be changing his menu “to reflect the new times.” That means more sustainable (read: locally-grown and organic) ingredients and lower prices than before. No details yet, but for those who get culinary sticker-shock and have avoided it until now, it might make Aurora worth a look.