Tucked inside the serene, light-filled Kimbell is a buffet with more than one masterpiece

The Buffet Restaurant at the Kimbell Art Museum has somehow always managed to be both simple and sophisticated, smart and serene.

The setting has a lot to do with the restaurant’s success. Louis Kahn’s vaulted-ceiling museum is famous for the quality of the light in the galleries, and that same silvery light infuses the restaurant’s dining room.

It would be hard, no matter what the food, not to feel relaxed and content while dining in such a setting, but manager Shelby Shafer’s salads, soups and desserts have always stood up nicely to the surroundings.

Will that impression last with the opening this week of "The Impressionists"?

During major exhibitions in the past, the restaurant has coped with the crowds by increasing seating and reducing menu choices.

This time, Shafer has taken a different tack. Instead of scattering extra tables around the restaurant and surrounding area, the seating will remain as it normally is. The tradeoff is that the restaurant’s full menu will be offered. That means guests may have a bit of a wait, in the buffet line, but Shafer promises that all comers will be served.

There was no wait at 1:30 p.m. on a weekday last week, and we swiftly sat down to a meal of gazpacho blanco, spinach quiche, Texas slaw, chicken salad, smoked turkey on kalamata olive bread and more.

The buffet ($7, $9 or $10, depending on plate size) offers two soups, four salads, a quiche and a sandwich each day, and you can choose as many of the options as you’d like. Drinks are included. Desserts are $2.75. The menu changes each week.

In hot weather, the restaurant always offers a cold soup as one of its two soup selections, and Shafer says the gazpacho blanco is one of the customers’ favorites. We could understand why. Sour cream and buttermilk give the creamy soup a bit of a tang, garlic and dill give it a nice kick.

The spinach quiche, nice and moist, was another hit.

Texas slaw is a happy combination of black beans, corn niblets, shredded cabbage, shredded carrots and Thousand Island dressing, with a secret Texas ingredient (you can find it in The Kimbell Cookbook in the museum’s gift shop).

Chicken salad features hearty chunks of white meat in a straightforward mayo-based dressing.

The disappointment was the turkey sandwich. It’s hard to get excited about a sandwich that’s served in plastic wrap, though the limited kitchen facilities at the buffet necessitate pre-made sandwiches.

We consoled ourselves with a slice of Italian cream cake. It wasn’t a layer cake, like Italian cream cake usually is, but a sheet cake, and our yummy slice was shot through with coconut.

The restaurant is open for dinner on Friday evenings only. The nighttime buffet is somewhat heartier than the luncheon menu, usually including a pasta casserole and always including a vegetable torta.

There’s live music at night — a harp player and a three-piece jazz band alternate weeks — making a lovely setting even lovelier.