Although the interior looks a little French Quarter—gas lamps, street signs and wood—it avoids kitschiness and provides a warmly relaxed setting. From his open kitchen, chef-owner Jac Eckhardt chats affably with arriving guests while Nova Scotia lobster and B.C. Dungeness crabs swim around in nearby tanks. Such critters and their cousins are the raisons d’être here. An appetizer of Hawaiian poke arrives at the table in a slender inverted glass. Slowly sliding the sleeve up reveals a carefully packed pillar of lime-and-soy-dressed shrimp and scallops, shredded cucumber, pine nuts and arugula. The nuts and peppery arugula provide unusual yet tasty complements to the succulent seafood. For mains, a halibut fillet on a starburst of al dente veg has been roasted a smidgen too long, yet is revived by a simple but silky lemon-butter sauce. Whole steamed lobster comes with the fanfare of surgical tools (nutcracker and lobster fork), candle-heated clarified butter and a tin pail for shells. Desserts offer one of the city’s best flourless chocolate cakes. Servers are pleasantly chummy. A small wine list features several bottles in the $40 to $60 range. Mains $22–$30.