a taste of
INSPIRED LIVING
A Culinary Tour with CHEF
I
t’s not very often that you get to spend time in the company of an acclaimed chef, eating your way through a string of their notable restaurants, which also happen to be in their hometown. I recently had the pleasure of spending a day—one that lasted from afternoon until late in the evening—with Boston-based chef Barbara Lynch. Over the years, this award-winning, self-taught chef has risen through the ranks working in high-profile kitchens across Boston. Today, she’s at the helm of the Barbara Lynch Collective, a restaurant group clustered around Boston’s Seaport and South End neighborhoods. For Chef Lynch, food is more than just a meal that sustains. “Cooking is about focusing on the basics,” she says. “It's about being in the kitchen with family and friends, preparing a meal together, teaching one another and getting inspired from what you see. It fosters community, encourages collaboration and leads to innovation. Based on my experience, the kitchen and dining table are settings for creative thinking and have always given me space for my imagination to run wild.” You too can spend a day (or maybe a few) chez Lynch by retracing the steps of our culinary tour. STIR
102 Waltham Street, stirboston.com
Situated on the South End, Stir is for the food lover who wants to gather with likeminded diners to savor a meal introduced
BARBAR A LYNCH
by a cooking demonstration. Modeled after Lynch’s own kitchen, with just ten stools tucked around an island, this intimate space hosts various acclaimed chefs who walk you through what they will be preparing. On this particular afternoon, we savored fluffy homemade ricotta gnudi with sweet peas, mushrooms and garlic scapes simmered in a white wine and butter sauce (see recipe following). B &G OYSTER S
550 Tremont Street, bandgoysters.com
Directly across from Stir is B&G Oysters, Chef Lynch’s take on an oyster bar. Each day you’ll find twelve different varieties of fresh oysters available at the raw bar in this laid-back space. The menu also includes iconic New England favorites like lobster rolls, clam chowder, and fried clams from Ipswich, plus other tempting seafood entrées like pan-roasted halibut and charred octopus. There is also an edited wine list created by the Executive Wine Director of the Barbara Lynch Collective, Cat Silirie, a close friend of Chef Lynch. THE BUTCHER SHOP
552 Tremont Street, thebutchershopboston.com
The Butcher Shop, located next to Stir, pays homage to the European boucheries that Chef Lynch frequents in France and Italy. Acting as both a restaurant and butcher shop—you can also find a range of artisanal cheeses and charcuterie that can be taken to go—the menu changes with the seasons and ranges from juicy burgers to the choicest cuts of meat.
NO. 9 PARK
9 Park Street, no9park.com
Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, No.9 Park is the restaurant that put Chef Lynch on the culinary map. Located in Beacon Hill, this award-winning restaurant serves a 7-course tasting menu in addition to a variety of á la carte dishes. The menu, rooted in French and Italian cuisine, rotates seasonally to take full advantage of the best local produce and seafood. We sampled a mouth-watering stone fruit salad paired with marinated rock shrimp and avocado mousse served on a bed of gem lettuce. Prune-stuffed gnocchi followed, a delectable bite which tasted like a buttery Fig Newton sprinkled with sea salt and crushed almonds. MENTON
354 Congress Street, mentonboston.com
Located in the Fort Point neighborhood, Menton is Chef Lynch’s homage to the Mediterranean town of the same name in the south of France—it’s also the only recipient of the Relais & Chateaux award in Boston. The main dining room recently got a makeover to match the aesthetic of the neighborhood; it went from formal white tablecloths to uncovered wooden tables and textured stucco walls the color of concrete. We gathered at the Chef’s Table to enjoy strawberry gazpacho, a refreshing soup with tangy pickled peppers, then it was on to the king crab scented with aromatic vadouvan, a French-style curry, and topped with Osetra Caviar—in a word, decadent.
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