congratulations New England Lobster on their new location, restaurant/market, aka i love fresh seafood

so ive been a fan of new england lobster (nel) for a pretty long time now. I was introduced to nel by a friend back in 2006 and ive been picking up live lobsters and dungeness crab from them since. two of my favorite dishes i make are garlic crab and lobster sashimi. while you might be able to find decent live dungeness crab from other sources in the bay area, but i wouldnt trust anyone else to supply the lobster for lobster sashimi other then nel. when dealing with live seafood, turnover is key. they have shipments come in multiple times a week. they supply live lobster and dungeness crabs to many of the supermarkets you see throughout the bay area. they supply the live lobsters and dungeness crab to a whos who list of restaurants in the bay area. thats good enough for me. there old location in south san francisco was a no frills, warehouse/retail location. they opened up a lobster roll cart next to it recently and had great success with it. now, with this new location, they upped the ante. to a totally different game. like total awesomeness.

located at 824 cowan in burlingame, this location is a full on restaurant and a market. today, i was able to get a sneak peak. today was their first day the market was open at their new location. the restaurant, however, will not be open until mid october, but remember, you still can buy your fresh seafood here in the meantime.

street parking is a bit tough here.... no problem,

they got you covered with a nice sized parking lot in back.

on a nice, picturesque bay area day like today, these outdoor seats will be PACKED. think fresh lobster, a nice bottle of sauv blanc, a wonderful group of friends... i cant wait till the restaurant is open.

but of course they got you covered with indoor seating as well when weather doesnt allow for outdoor seating.

theres something really special about a new kitchen.

i think there should be a sign on this. we caught our first lobster on the boat. no really, we did. ok maybe not.

though im really excited to see what they do with their awesome restaurant venue, lets not forget why they made it so far. this is their cold counter.

might as well grab some live kicking dungeness while im here. i grabbed five dungeness from a local market yesterday to make some garlic crab, and while still good, these are obviously better. grabbed five more for more garlic crab tonight.... and its a dollar a pound cheaper than the local asian market?!?!. and you can ask these guys where they were caught and when they were brought in? thats just awesome to be able to do that.

i snuck a peak into the operations side while i was at it too. i mean how can you NOT sneak a peek into a warehouse labeled TANK HOUSE.

thats one big live tank....

happy little lobsters, sorted and ready to go.

 im really happy for the nel guys. i wish nothing but the best for them!