LEWISTON – If the decor doesn’t make your mouth water, the menu will.

Fuel, a highly anticipated downtown restaurant, is bringing a touch of class to Lisbon Street when it opens to the public Tuesday.

Dark brown woods, terra cotta walls and framed, vintage French ads make for a refined, but welcoming atmosphere in the area’s newest restaurant. People who remember the space when it was a Loring, Short & Harmon paper goods store won’t believe it.

“We call it urban cozy,” said native Eric Agren, who, with his wife, Carrie, is launching the restaurant and wine bar. “We want it to be comfortable for people, but different for L-A.”

Different it is. The wine selection tops 400. The menu is split 60 percent country French and 40 percent American. Younger diners can entertain themselves with Etch-A-Sketch. Invited “cooks of the week” help prepare food in the kitchen, then dine at the chef’s table that evening.

And once the insurance issues are settled (in a couple of weeks), there’ll be valet parking on the weekends.

“It’s all coming together; I think we’re ready,” Eric said, as Carrie nodded in agreement.

The couple planned to give the staff a dry-run through the weekend with invited family and friends. Then on Tuesday, they open for business, with nearly a full house of reservations the following weekend.

“Which is kind of funny since we didn’t have our phone hooked up yet,” said Eric. “People found ways to reach us.”

Not a surprise, perhaps, since the project has drawn intense interest from the economic development community and beyond. The Agrens’ conversion of the vacant, neglected Lyceum Hall into an elegant eatery has been touted as a perfect example of the creative economy – an example further enhanced by the restoration of the building’s second floor into a beautiful home and the donation of adjacent space for an L/A Arts gallery.

The gallery should be open within a couple of weeks, said Tammie Grieshaber, who was assembling shelves there Thursday morning. The space will host more than 100 pieces of juried art on display for Maine Public Broadcasting’s annual auction.

“Tell everybody to come,” Grieshaber said.

Local officials will help unveil Fuel at a ribbon-cutting ceremony planned for 10:30 a.m. today. The menu will add to the fanfare.

Eric predicts the Hanger Steak Frites ($17) and the Slow Braised Beef Short Ribs ($17) will be front-runners in popularity, but is proud there’s something for everyone. Entrees run from a chef’s creation Pasta of the Day ($10) to ½ Organic Roast Chicken ($15) to Coq au Vin ($14) and Seared Duck Breast ($22).

Appetizers reflect the owners’ eclectic taste and sense of fun. Fried Green Tomatoes ($4) are followed by Oeufs Farcis (deviled eggs, $6) and Grilled Shrimp ($7). Soups, salads and side dishes offer the same kind of variety. Many of the dishes feature local produce and the focaccia is made next door at Antonio’s Bakery and Deli.

The restaurant also offers a four-course tasting menu, dubbed “Feed me, Justin” in honor of executive chef Justin Oliver. Diners can have a custom- made meal for the entire table.

“We wanted to offer something different, something special,” Carrie said. There’s even a private dining nook, set off at the back of the restaurant by eyelet drapes.

The modern bar at the fore of the restaurant was made by Eric, featuring a long glass surface over a trough filled with broken and intact wine bottles.

“Wines are real important to us … we wanted to emphasize them,” he said, then laughed as he looked at the trough. “I’m not sure I would attempt this again, though.”

A cluster of leather side chairs and a couch give diners a comfortable place to wait or share a cocktail. The restaurant opens at 4 p.m., with a bar menu available until 5 when full service begins.

Fuel can seat 68, in three neat rows of tables that are arranged bistro-style. On Thursday, each was carefully set, waiting.

“We want to make people full and happy,” Eric said.