At some point, everyone’s attended the kind of gathering where food figures prominently, but isn’t really the focus (and, consequently, isn’t very good). I’m talking wedding receptions, dinner theaters, transatlantic flights—the kind of “chicken or beef?” food service that prompts people like me to pre-eat in anticipation of mushy pasta and chewy steak.

It was with some hesitation, then, that I boarded the YachtStarship in South Boston last Friday night for a two-hour trip around Boston harbor. A new addition to Boston’s dinner-cruise lineup (the other players being Odyssey and Spirit), the ship’s press release promised grand skyline views, dancing on the deck, and delectable, upscale cuisine. I believed #1 and #2.

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Unless you make friends with a chef, food writers rarely get to see what’s going on in the kitchen. We guess at what’s happening behind the scenes, taking our cues from what’s on our plates. Unsurprisingly, then, I jumped at the chance to get an insider’s look at Legal Sea Foods.

Yes, it’s a chain. And yes, it’s where you take your parents when they come to town. But, the sheer magnitude of this Boston-based operation—30-plus restaurants, plus more in the queue—made it impossible for me to ignore. So last Friday, I gladly donned a fleece and followed CEO Roger Berkowitz into the innards of Legal’s local operations: the Quality Control Center, on the South Boston waterfront. (The address? One Seafood Way.) (more…)