A new restaurant in downtown Dallas has to be one of the prettiest DIYs in town: Sauvage, the new concept from chefs Casey and Amy La Rue, will open on August 28 next to the Statler Dallas hotel at 1914 Commerce St., in the former Sfereco Pizza, with a renovation that the couple managed to execute entirely themselves.

Sauvage is the unusual "woodfire omakase” concept with 16-18 courses — wild game, seafood, vegetables, and dessert — all cooked via grill and smoker. It's a next-generation concept for the couple, following Carte Blanche, the award-winning restaurant they opened at 2114 Greenville Ave, which closed in 2024.

Sauvage marks their return to fine dining and will follow the tasting-menu approach they maintained at Carte Blanche, but with a smaller footprint: just 12 seats and two seatings per night, open only four nights a week, from Wednesday-Saturday. (Reservations can be made on tock.)

It's not exactly common for chefs in Dallas to actually build out their restaurants themselves — especially one with such lofty, fine-dining goals.

“We’re both very frugal, and we understand that to spend $1,000 on an item, we have to sell $10,000 to pay for it,” Casey says. Working in their favor was the restaurant’s compact size — 1500 square feet.

The couple chose the former pizza spot because of its central location in downtown as well as its proximity to La Rue Doughnuts, the doughnut shop they opened in 2024 at the Trinity Groves complex in West Dallas.

Their vision: a juxtaposition of modern and earthy, urban and natural, with garden elements and colors — pale celery green hues, rustic fixtures made from actual tree branches — set against a backdrop of dark, sexy walls and dark hardwood floors.

The couple has never been afraid to roll up their sleeves, but for some of the more technical tasks such as floors and ceramic tile, they consulted everyone's favorite DIY source. "We went to YouTube," Casey says.

The hardwood flooring, stained a deep espresso-brown, has a professional-looking installation that would surely fool most onlookers. Amy spent days lining up the unusual 6-by-1-inch textured jade tiles that clad the bar as well as larger 12 x 24-inch tiles in the kitchen — both procured from Home Depot. They painted the walls with a custom lime wash, stirring in wood fire ashes to get the perfect charcoal gray.

The dining room is centered on an L-shaped bar that surrounds the open kitchen, with 12 seats total. They went with upholstered, rattan-accented bar stools from Arhaus. A lounge area near the entrance serves as a gathering place for guests between the first and second service. It features an eclectric grouping of mix-and-match club chairs, also sourced from Arhaus, as well as Rove Concepts, and Perigold.

They built their own countertop, starting with a wood base to which they added layers of concrete to achieve a rock-like effect.

“It brings a raw, elemental feel into the space and anchors the whole design," Casey says. Strewn across the counter are small metal sculptures of animals — a horse, a deer, as well as actual antlers. The place settings feature bowls that look like they're carved from stone.

Lighting fixtures are show-stoppers including a chandelier made from twisted branches they found on Etsy. Another light in the foyer features a dying tree from the La Rues’ front yard. A thrifted Art Deco lamp takes the shape of a playful forest sprite.

Found and gathered objects carry through the concept of bringing the outdoors in, including a distinctive set of miniature stone statues discovered at an art show in California.

As much as the couple enjoyed literally getting their hands dirty, it's not something they're anxious to repeat.

“Demo-ing the wall tile, putting up new walls, and then tiling again seemed manageable at first,” Casey says. “But it became a much bigger project than expected. I’m not sure we’d choose to take on that much ourselves again.”

Thomas Garza Photography

Side table at Sauvage topped with deer-shaped candle holder