Keys to the Door: Owner and executive chef Doug Brown, director of operations Eric Thomas Guerrieri.
Gourmet to Go, or to Stay: For those days when lunch lacks foie gras and caviar (we hate those days), we suggest the back booth and a curry chicken salad sandwich at Beyond the Box cafe. Owner and exec chef Doug Brown’s new concept at residential/retail development Ilume is an extension of his nearly six-year-old Beyond the Box Catering business. Here, gourmet fare — think freshly made entrees such as chicken cordon bleu and apricot-glazed salmon, as well as an extensive salad bar that doubles as an oatmeal bar during breakfast hours — is served in a casual setting. All menu items are prepared in Brown’s Deep Ellum catering kitchen and delivered daily to the Cedar Springs storefront, where one half of the cafe is for ordering and the other half is for dining. A long bar with high-backed stools parallels a row of large booths across the room; stainless-steel accents with blue mosaic tiling make the whole thing mod. But as much as Beyond the Box is about pleasing the palates of on-the-go sophisticates, it’s also about convenience: Stocked on the shelves are off-the-norm beers and wines, organic pet food for Fifi and Fido, even natural soaps, shampoos and toothpastes — terribly handy if you happen to live upstairs. 4123 Cedar Springs (in the Ilume complex), 214.828.2228; foodbeyondthebox.com.
Image: Photo by David Witherspoon