L?Absinthe: ?Elegant dining without being pretentious?

The general manager of L?Absinthe restaurant in Boulder also happens to be its pianist. It?s an unusual arrangement, but then again both owner Maurice Couturier and General Manager Ricardo Tondowski intended to bring something different to the area.

?We can bring something new to Boulder,? Tondowski says. ?Elegant fine dining without being pretentious.?

Couturier, L?Absinthe?s chef as well as its owner, was born and raised in France. He did his cooking apprenticeships in Paris and London and even worked at Paris institution Maxim?s restaurant. But he always knew he wanted to travel. In 1981, he became the chef for the King of Jordan. There he met his wife, who was then pastry chef for the king.

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Eventually, the couple ended up in Colorado. Couturier was attracted to the mountains and the weather, and he decided to make Colorado his own. Starting in 1997, he opened three restaurants in the mountains: La Boheme, which he later renamed La Provence, and Margarita Grill, both in Snowmass and Ute City Bar and Grill in Aspen.

He decided to give Boulder a try for several reasons.

The first is stability. Business in Snowmass and Aspen is seasonal, and the rents are resort-town high. The second is that his oldest of three children is attending the University of Colorado at Boulder, and Couturier wanted to be living in Boulder full time. And the third is that he sees the restaurant scene in Boulder is growing more sophisticated, and that people are ready to try new things. The recent opening of the posh St. Julien Hotel, he adds, really ?shows the direction Boulder is heading in.?

Couturier intends to remains very hands-on at L?Absinthe, and is even considering selling one or more of his other restaurants. He is the sole owner of L?Absinthe, and financed its $750,000 opening costs.

Helping him run the restaurant on a day-to-day basis are Tondowski and Herve Lequien, L?Absinthe?s sommelier and manager.

Tondowski and Couturier go back almost 15 years to when Couturier invited Tondowski to play the piano at La Boheme in Snowmass. Tondowski, who speaks seven languages and began playing piano when he was 5 years old, was born and raised in Brazil. During dinner service at L?Absinthe, Tondowski plays the piano periodically but that doesn?t mean he?s afraid to handle less delicate tasks. ?I play piano, and (then) I sweep the floor and clean the bathrooms,? he says.

Lequien, L?Absinthe?s sommelier and manager, met Couturier a year ago, after closing his Niwot eatery, Bistro St. Tropez. He has been in the restaurant business about 35 years, but says laughingly that his greatest qualification for managing L?Absinthe?s wine list is that growing up in France, he ?started drinking wine at age 3.?

He dislikes the word ?sommelier? because he thinks it intimidates people. His goal is for every table to enjoy a bottle of wine with their meal, whether it?s a $22 bottle of 2003 Remy Pannier Muscadet or a $675 bottle of 1993 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild. The wine list has about 300 bottles for now, but Lequien intends to increase the list to 500 bottles.

Couturier?s menu, which changes every Monday, features French classics with a touch of New Orleans influence and plenty of seafood. Starters include a crayfish and lobster bisque with parmesan tuiles and rouille for $8 and the ?Salad L?Absinthe? of mache, baby beets, candied walnuts, blue cheese and vinaigrette for $9. There are extravagant trays of oysters, shrimp, crab and lobster, $26 for the petit tray and $48 for the grand one.

Entrees include bouillabaisse, priced daily according to the market, and a potato-crusted striped bass en papillotte with a fennel and spinach compote for $25.

The ?cafe classics? section of the menu includes familiar dishes such as mussels mariniere for $7.50 and steak au poivre for $16.

The simple and elegant dessert menu by pastry chef Josh Fink includes a cheesecake of local Haystack Mountain goat cheese with lavender-scented berries and a flourless Belgian chocolate cake with vanilla gelato.

For Couturier, the name L?Absinthe indicates ?a sense of creativity? from the liquor?s associations with Parisian artists and the Impressionist painters. A large glass fountain depicting the green fairy that often represents absinthe greets diners at the door.

L?Absinthe recently began serving lunch, and Couturier says he ultimately intends to add a limited weekday breakfast of coffee and pastry as well as a Sunday brunch.

Couturier isn?t worried about the slew of new restaurants that have opened recently in Boulder, including his two neighbors at One Boulder Plaza, Bombay Bistro and Acqua Pazza.

?Competition is healthy,? Couturier says. ?As long as you?re part of the competition.?