Go green! In April, Eric Turner and Alfonso Natarelli took over the former Foundry space at 1109 Walnut Street in Boulder, which they're transforming into Absinthe House. "We want it to look like an absinthe house that's been around before the ban on absinthe ninety years ago, but with an updated kind of feel," Turner explains.
In the front third of the space, they plan to create a restaurant open for lunch and dinner; in the back, which is about 6,000 square feet, will be a nightclub with DJs three to four nights a week, with an emphasis on European electronic music. Turner brought in a friend from Miami who installs sound systems, and he's been working on the sound and lights for the past few months. Absinthe House will also sport a 1,700 square-foot rooftop patio with a view of the Flatirons, misters for hot days and mushroom heaters wired for colder days.
"We really felt like Boulder was the perfect fit for what we do," Turner says. "It's a great combo of really good food, really unique and good products for liquor, and the nightlife ambience with the nightclub thing. There isn't a nightclub in Boulder. There are places that have DJs every once in while."
And then there's the absinthe: Turner promises that Absinthe House will have the largest selection of any bar in America. The offerings will change every day depending on what suppliers can get, but he says they're hoping to stock at least twenty kinds of absinthe, all authentic. Some will be brands unique to their bar in Colorado, because they special-order them through their distributor, Turner adds.
Turner and Natarelli, who have two restaurants in Summit County as well as the Green Fairy absinthe bar in Copper Mountain, are shooting to get Absinthe House open this week, with a grand-opening party on Friday, August 27. A Vancouver-based promoter will be bringing in DJs from Canada, Greece and the West Coast as part of the "Road to Spin-Fest" series of parties leading up to Spin-Fest 2010 in Cancun in October.
Club Scout: On Friday, August 13, the Rockaway Tavern (2036 Broadway, the former home of the Triangle), run by two former 15th Street Tavern owners — Mykel Martinez and Kris Sieger — and 3 Kings Tavern's Jim Norris, will throw its grand-opening party. Super Suckers frontman Eddie Spaghetti will be performing with members of the Railbenders, and Reno Divorce and Martinez's band Grease Machine will kick things off. On Saturday, Git Some will celebrate its new Alternative Tentacles release, Lose Control, at the new venue.
Back in February 2009, Patrick Vigil and Laurence Sermo, owners of Barker Lounge (255 South Broadway), bought the once biker-friendly Mozart Lounge at 1417 Krameria and turned it into a gay-friendly piano bar. But they're out of it now: Joe Lehman took over the place in May and renamed it Aqua Lounge. It's still a gay-friendly piano bar that brings in live music on Fridays and Saturdays, but Lehman is finishing some remodeling and, according to Mike Armijo, hoping to eventually open the basement as a dance club.
