A week after opening, Cafe 43 – the full-service restaurant at the new George W. Bush Presidential Center – held a media lunch on Thursday to share highlights of the menu, followed by a complimentary tour of the library. The restaurant sits at the entrance of the museum in a large, airy room with high ceilings, lots of windows and wainscoting with inlaid molding on the walls.

The library chose Dallas-based Culinaire International, a restaurant-catering company, to manage Cafe 43 and run the catering operation for private events such as meetings.

Executive chef John Maas and chef de cuisine Jason Wade introduced a representative sampling of dishes, beginning with hummus and pita triangles and a crostini-like starter with small soft toasts, house-made ricotta, olive tapenade and tomato marmalade. Bread comes from La Spiga.

Two salads were shared: turkey Cobb with greens, large chunks of avocado, and two fried green tomatoes on top; smoked chicken salad was sweet, thanks to the berries, oranges and other fruit.

Entrees sampled included pappardelle with vegetables, and Arctic char over a medley of corn and peas. Two sandwiches were chosen based on their popularity: pulled pork and turkey pastrami, which Maas said were the top sellers. Desserts included an unusual "griddled" carrot cake with puffs of fluffy cream cheese. Wade explained how he did it: buttering slices of the cake, then grilling them until the edges were crisp and hot.

Maas came from Hackberry Creek Country Club in Irving, and he was executive chef for Cityplace Conference Center. Wade was most recently a sous chef at Whiskey Cake.

In addition to Cafe 43, the library has a casual quick-serve place called the Courtyard Café. For now, both seem directed towards museum guests, who are being charged $7 for parking, and there are currently no validations for cafe diners. You can take the DART Rail to Mockingbird Station, as long as you don't mind walking a few rather large but not undoable blocks.