I also grew up in the same projects with my mom and 2 sisters with an absent father reading your story brought back so many memories I can not wait to try one of your restaurants. I am 58 so probably would not have run into each other but went to nursing school as well as my sisters and never looked back.
She doesn't have a single restaurant in Southie. Her restaurants Menton, Drink and Sportello are actually in Fort Point not Southie. Dined at Menton last week and it was no where near the quality it was 3 years ago.
She's done a lot of good for herself and lifting herself up. Good for her!
She's done a lot of good for herself and lifting herself up. Good for her!
A good read. I remember her rise and burgeoning publicity during my time in Boston in the 80s and early 90s, a time when “Real Food” was gaining traction, and Boston was at the vanguard, boasting of Ms. Lynch, Jasper White, Todd English (and for a brief moment that dour curmudgeon, Bruce Frankel), among many others. Ms. Lynch's reputation bloomed into prominence with the advent of No. 9 Park, which provided a wonderful, brash new dining experience, located just blocks from the then still-revered but fossilized Locke Ober. Still, I had never heard a thing about her humble start and almost non-existent training; hers is a true and undeniable talent that found its best expression.
2
Barbara eats what at the Shamrock Pub? Not poulet en pain or even pot pie I guess.
1
Being a Chef near Ms. Lynch's age I know the hard work so many restaurants bring.
I too love her book and just hope she has enough energy to keep holding up that building with that loose corner till her cigarette runs out!!
I too love her book and just hope she has enough energy to keep holding up that building with that loose corner till her cigarette runs out!!
6
Thanks Barbara for bringing Boston great food at a time when it was looking old. Your numerous restaurants and endeavors not mentioned in the article have made my life in Boston so much better over the years. Thank you.
5
In the accompanying photo the chef is smoking. I didn't bother reading the story.
2
Yet you managed to take the time to comment. This is your loss. Not everyone is going to live life the way you want them to. You have missed an interesting article & the Times has allowed you to interject politically correct rhetoric into the mix. That's as wrong as smoking.
21
Yeah, spare us the moralizing.
I'm sure Barnara earned that cigarette, even if it's unquestionably a bad choice healthwise...
I'm sure Barnara earned that cigarette, even if it's unquestionably a bad choice healthwise...
5
Too bad you didn't read the article to discover the chef's history of using mescaline, cocaine and fried clams.
7
Props also to Cat Silirie, sommeliere for Barbara's restaurants, providing memorable wines for the memorable food.
4
No 9 Park is still one of the best restaurants in Boston if not all of New England. Having moved from NY to Portland Maine I longed for the sophisticated dining that I knew so well in NY. No. 9 fit the bill perfectly. My only regret was that the restaurant no longer served lunch-- I used to drive in to Boston just to have a swell lunch; it reminded me of driving in from East Hampton to have lunch at Grenouille when I lived in the Hamptons in the days when Hamptons dining was purely ho-hum local.
3
Why in the world would you add the word "racism" here? "Southie was notorious for clannishness, racism and crime (organized and otherwise)."
It just distracts for the subject and condemns the place, in a confusing manner.
It just distracts for the subject and condemns the place, in a confusing manner.
4
It was added because the writer is talking about back in the day. You must be too young to remember bussing.
4
I used to work with Barb back in the day, at the Harvest, St. Botolph club, Michela's. Really creative person, self-taught. Made her way with moxie and guile. She's earned all the success and recognition she's received.
12
I met the Chef several years ago. I was on a team with a group of three other women doing an interview for a paper for graduate school. I was the same age as the Chef. The other members of my team were young and just starting out. She could not have been nicer and generous with her time. She encouraged us all to follow our passions.
9
In 2011, Chef Barbara was on a panel I moderated at the annual Women Chefs and Restaurateurs' conference, held in Cambridge. No one could not have been more delightful, inspiring, or humble.
Nine years before that, also in Cambridge, WCR enjoyed a screening of "Amuse Bouche: A Chef's Tale," a documentary by Marianne Galvin about Chef Barbara. It would be a good companion piece to the book.
Nine years before that, also in Cambridge, WCR enjoyed a screening of "Amuse Bouche: A Chef's Tale," a documentary by Marianne Galvin about Chef Barbara. It would be a good companion piece to the book.
13
As a South Ender (NOT to be confused with Southie) who resides on a street with two of her restaurants on the corner, she isn't always the best neighbor.
13
As someone who grew up in the South End, Barbara (and a few other chefs) made the neighborhood what it is today, pretty sure you would not live there otherwise if you HAD to point out it was NOT Southie. Be grateful you paid too much for your co-op.
22
Ugh..over-hyped, overpriced restaurants with barely memorable food. The Boston press loves her...because ?? Boston is the only city on earth where this impossibly mediocre chef could survive. She wouldn't last 10 minutes in New York, Chicago or LA.
11
Wow! Some people are just plain mean. Give the woman a break.
40
I lived in Boston for over 15 years, and live in New York now. So far, I've only found one or two restaurants in New York that can hold a candle to Barbara Lynch's restaurants in Boston.
13
Sing along!
I was born down on “A” Street,
Raised up on “B Street,
Southie is my hometown;
There is something about it,
Permit me to shout it,
It is tops for miles around;
We have doctors and flappers,
Preachers and scrappers,
Men from the Old County down;
They will take you & break you,
But they’ll never forsake you;
For Southie is my hometown.
I was born down on “A” Street,
Raised up on “B Street,
Southie is my hometown;
There is something about it,
Permit me to shout it,
It is tops for miles around;
We have doctors and flappers,
Preachers and scrappers,
Men from the Old County down;
They will take you & break you,
But they’ll never forsake you;
For Southie is my hometown.
16
I would like to give a special thanks to my network of relatives, street children, and families with absentee fathers for making me the Southie I am today. And what better way to celebrate than with Froot Loops colored macarons and perfect fried oysters *IN OYSTER SHELLS*
9
Macarons in Froot Loops colors is pretty damn original... but fried oysters in OYSTER SHELLS? These Southies are out of control!!!
6
There is no such thing as a Southie. The New York Times should do a better job in the editing department
53
Thank you!
1
Love her spicy tomato soup with caraway grilled cheese, squid ink bigoli, and microplaned parmesan. Her cookbook "Stir" is a go to in our kitchen. Glad to read this story!
12
Totally, some of my all-time favorite recipes come from Stir!
1
It's a curious thing: you have a french recipe that the chef is touting, and it gets written up by an NYTimes food writer and states on the bottom that it is adapted from an cookbook on Italian cooking. Seems awfully circuitous. I guess I'll have to track down the french version and see what the differences are.
4
The word "Southie" only refers to a neighborhood, not a person
66
Ms. Lynch was on a npr show the other day and i listened while i drove home from work. she dropped an f-bomb and was quietly told by the host, "we don't use that word." i worked with a guy around the turn of the century who said he shared an apartment with, and maybe some other people. "we called her Lynchie." i don't know if that is true but if it is he should have paid more attention to her. He's good at his job, but there's no comparison.
8
I know neighborhoods like South Boston all over the US. Imagine if, instead of becoming after-dark playgrounds for diners who come and go via Uber, they were home to people with good jobs and rising wages. What if new businesses in the neighborhood weren't looking for busboys and dishwashers, but salaried employees?
That would be something to write about.
That would be something to write about.
37
You are obviously not familiar with this particular neighborhood inside South Boston where her restaurants are located. It's home to what some people call the "Innovation district". Companies that have moved there in the last few years include Vertex, PWC, zip car, GE, Life is Good, State Street among many other companies large and small providing the "good jobs" you asked about. Just curious but what is wrong with needing to hire "busboys and dishwashers" to work at the restaurants that are serving the needs of the residents and employees in the area?
25
South Boston is very residential. So is the South End where the 3 restaurants are. South Boston and the South End are two entirely different neighborhoods.
20
You might want to do your homework on the way South Boston (Southie) is evolving to get your model. It is not just home to restaurants. It is home to rapidly growing companies like Vertex Pharmaceuticals, ReThink Robotics, the MassChallenge startup accelerator (largest in the world), Legal Seafoods' processing center, Gillette's largest factory and R&D center, and the new world headquarters for General Electric.
The restaurants are there because good jobs are being created there.
The restaurants are there because good jobs are being created there.
18
We have met her, tasted her fabulous cooking. Just love her for who she is.
30
Excellent story, for once a straight narrative about someone with the odds stacked against her who made good by native smarts and old-fashioned ambition.
This memoir is a must buy. I commend Ms. Lynch for her success and hope one day to visit one of the restaurants.
This memoir is a must buy. I commend Ms. Lynch for her success and hope one day to visit one of the restaurants.
20
@ Gerald
I am with you. Her chicken is a work of art, a sculpture, that should rather be called "poulet en croûte", that is a pity to slice to enjoy its taste.
I am with you. Her chicken is a work of art, a sculpture, that should rather be called "poulet en croûte", that is a pity to slice to enjoy its taste.
14
Kudos and applause to the author for (re?)discovering the talented chef. In the photo in small format, I thought that Ms. Lynch had an uncanny resemblance to Lady Mary Crawley in "Downton Abbey". In a larger format, the resemblance was gone, leaving me to admire Ms. Lynch's courage of smoking a cigarette and thus rubbing against the grain the politically correct Pharisees, vegans, anti-tobacco and other leftist radical lobbies.
The recipe of poulet en pain looks most tempting. However, I would prefer the filling to be without carrots, adding chopped celery to the selection recommended in the recipe. And my constant question still is, whether the chicken might be replaced by a less pedestrian bird? -- Bon appétit to all!
The recipe of poulet en pain looks most tempting. However, I would prefer the filling to be without carrots, adding chopped celery to the selection recommended in the recipe. And my constant question still is, whether the chicken might be replaced by a less pedestrian bird? -- Bon appétit to all!
6
If you're tired of chicken, you might try a pheasant -- or maybe five and twenty blackbirds.
13
Awesome profile but why do people not from Boston keep trying to make "A Southie" a thing? No one here says that.
56
Seems more likely that the reporter made a mistake. The neighborhood is called "Southie." The people are not. Out-of-towners also frequently confuse the South End and South Boston.
51
Yep, people say "I'm from Southie," not "I'm a Southie."
44
Who still smokes?
22
@ Spencer
For example, I do.
For example, I do.
7
The salmon and the whitefish do.
20
Lol, obviously you do not know many creative young people. The proper question should be, "Who in corporate or conventional America still smokes?"
11