Barbara Lynch

Menton

354, Congress street
Boston, Massachusetts
United States
+1.617.7370099

“Exceptional food. Inspired wines and cocktails. Gracious hospitality” is the  claim of the Group owned by American chef and restaurateur Barbara Lynch. But the youth parabola of this lady is best summed up in her book “Out of Line: a life of playing with fire”. Originally from Southie, the poor, infamous neighbourhood in South Boston ruled by Irish butcher boss James Whitey” Burger, the girl had a rather fearless childhood. The first of 7 children, she grew up in council houses and soon became known for her recklessness: she drove anything with 4 wheels (including buses), committed petty thefts, alcohol, drugs, but wasn’t arrested.

Cooking saved and redeemed her: she started as a teenager and in 1989 she worked with Texan celebrity chef Todd English who was directing the famous Michela’s, for many years the best Italian restaurant in Boston. In the Nineties, she understood this was her future and travelled to Italy to understand its secrets. Back in Boston, she became executive chef at trattoria Galleria Italiana – now closed: she was among the ten “Best young chefs in America” according to the very popular Food&Wine and critics and public stared to notice her.

In 1998 she opened the first of her 7 restaurants, No 9 Park, an elegant establishment focused on Italian and French specialties. In 2003, the B&G Oysters adventure began, selling oysters and classic New England specialties, and The Butcher Shop, a place with a twofold soul: it’s a butcher’s shop and a wine bar. In 2004 she launched the fourth restaurant, Stir, a bookshop with a small demo-kitchen.

Drink, a bar dedicated to the art of cocktails arrived in 2008 as well as Sportello, her take on a cheap restaurant with Italian food. In the spring of 2010, she gave life to the latest of her 7 (for now) places, the most ambitious. It’s called Menton, it’s a relais &chateaux praised by the entire US press. Since 2016 she manages Pesce restaurant at Eataly Boston. In 2017 she was consecrated: she’s one of the 100 most influential women in the world, according to Time magazine.

by

Gabriele Zanatta

born in Milan, 1973, freelance journalist, coordinator of Identità Golose World restaurant guidebook since 2007, he is a contributor for several magazines and teaches History of gastronomy and Culinary global trends into universities and institutes. 
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