New England fishing folk are a creaky lot, what with their quasi-Maine “ah-yup” jargon, salty retro slickers, and Luddite gear.

But apparently someone forgot to inform Legal Sea Foods owner Roger Berkowitz, because the man’s up and imagined a Boston seafood restaurant that’s pure 21st century.

Opening today, the lounge-like Legal’s Test Kitchen on the South Boston Waterfront is ablaze with high-tech frills like plasma-screen menus, tableside iPod docks, and WiFi access.

Like your food on the cutting edge, too? Executive chef Paul Booras has whipped up a menu sectioned into clever little categories like Nosh (apps), Bare (anything raw), and Comfort (entrees). Flavors hail from every corner of the planet — there’s an epic raw bar to end all raw bars, a tamarind-laced Mysore rasam soup, feather-light tempura, and a rendition of angry lobster so spicy you may even look up from your laptop.

Feeling ever so hot-wired.

Legal’s Test Kitchen, 225 Northern Avenue (617-330-7450 or legalseafoods.com).