Also available are narrow crisp pommes frites, served in a cone with a choice of condiments. Entrees include a couple of pastas, a portobello mushroom dish, a risotto and a roasted rack of New Zealand lamb. The lamb is served with a fig sauce, on dark, plain greens, with a slice of roast squash and crispy, buttery potatoes Anna. It's got a good wintry feel, without fireworks. The risotto is a little too al dente and bland, with a pleasing bitterness from the saffron and limas, and flavored but not creamy with pecorino.
Nothing's as nasty as tepid risotto.
Also lavender creme brulee, and rice pudding en crepe served with a mixed-citrus salad. They are highly competent, but not dazzling. In general, all the dishes seem to consist of good honest flavors, straightforwardly presented. No effort is made to jazz things up with unexpected reductions or coulis, which is a pleasant respite from the often unsuccessful experimenting of San Francisco's hyper chefs. It's possible that attempts to make Absinthe's pleasing dishes spectacular would work, and it's possible that they would not.