Scott Welsch wants to make his Orange Box a food oasis

• Brooke Vandever
• Chef Scott Welsch takes a rare moment to sit in front of his restaurant, Orange Box.

Scott Welsch excuses himself and runs outside to make sure the tires of an 18-wheeler don’t crush the newly laid brick walk outside his month-old restaurant, Orange Box. The chef watches the driver carefully execute the turn. His bricks are safe for at least one more morning.

This is life at 2700 Jarboe, where Welsch’s tiny lunch spot is tucked between houses and aging manufacturing buildings. Rainbow umbrellas and patio furniture reclaimed from his own home sit outside the restaurant, a short walk from the new Roasterie plant.

“I always wanted to have a little hole in the wall that has great food,” he says. “The people are different. People come to a hole in the wall for the experience, not for the fine china. I never wanted to be on the Plaza taking on the giants.”