freeman's & the boil

saturday was hot, boiling hot ... and last minute, we decided to get together  with our good friends, will and janet, who live downtown and we sadly haven't seen together since a year ago!

we aimed to meet at the boil (snicker) at 5:30pm, but of course, taxis and trains were delayed, and we didn't meet until closer to 5:45pm, where we were greeted by about 40 some odd people loitering outside the restaurant. we were told we would have to wait 2 hrs. kevin and my stomachs were growling already at 5pm, so i was not sure if we would be able to fight the hanger until 7:45!

luckily we walked a couple blocks north and polished off a few drinks, devils on horseback, and cheddar cheese toast at freemans, while completely entertained and simultaneously distracted with inside stories about broadway and show business from janet, a current MFA student at NYU's tisch school. the restaurant called us 1.5 hrs later (before our expected seating time) and we scurried over to the restaurant happily!

for our first time at the boil, and hopefully not our last, we shared a half dozen oysters, mac n cheese, oyster sliders, combo platter of dungeness crab and crawfish, and a pound of the king crab legs. 

the appetizers were all very good (especially the mac n cheese), but the main show was definitely the the crabs and crawfish, which were seasoned with garlic + butter, lemon, and old bay seasoning. when it was showtime, the waiter dropped two large clear plastic bags of seafood in the center of our table, and armed with bibs and rubber gloves, we went at it - utensils provided, but really not even needed.

highlight of the night is when the male waiter walked over to us holding four plastic bibs in his hands, slowly reaching around kevin's neck to put on the bib, while kevin looked him in the eye warily inching away from the waiter until he had no choice but to surrender his neck. LOL.

i opted for a black tank top that night instead of the silk dress i had been originally thinking of :D basically saying to the waiter - HAND OVER THAT BIB!!!!