My Blue Taleh foray

It means ocean in Thai, and it sure is a sea change from the old Sun classified dept. I stepped into the Blue Taleh at 15 Kearney Sq. today and instantly forgot this was the same space I faithfully trudged through the last seven years. The pumpkin spiced and sassy green walls were instantly cheering on this gray/sleetfilled day. The curved bar w/ drop lights that will serve as martini/sushi central immediately catches your eye. When it opens in three weeks, sushi cases will reside on the far side, where raw fish will be rolled into seaweed and stacked into outrageous-sounding dishes like the volcano. Not the overwrought volcano roll that's exploded onto every sushi menu, this dish, owner Pon Ramirez tells me, is a sight to behold.
"A mountain of cooked scallops and slightly spicy tuna, stacked into a colorful presentation," is how she describes this edible Etna.
Presentation is the crux of the latest restaurant to reawaken downtown Lowell. But "whatever you do, I want fresh fish!" is what Pon's stressing to her two sushi chefs. Good. That's the best we can ask for in a sushi place. Bento boxes will be at-the-ready for office workers and Middlesex College students/faculty for lunch. With late night nigri offered till 1 a.m., and martinis stirred by a talented mixologist named Matt, how can this place go wrong? Pon, a Thai native, says duck will be her signature dish — sweet and sour and spicy. "Authentic Thai," is how her husband Steven, describes the fare.
This pleasing space that would be at home in a hipper hood, like, say Inman Square, will be a dynamic addition. I for one can't wait till mid-Jan. when the Blue Taleh breaks. Now we have two sushi options w/in a block of each other? Is this Lowell.