The news of an impending estate sale suggests Barbara Lynch is in dire financial straits.
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B just asked me if saw this news item. Iâd be interested in seeing her kitchen items up for sale but it feels rather vulture-ish to actually attend.
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Yeah. I guess we can only speculate. Could be a reasoned effort to simplify, but given recent news (e.g. lawsuit filed by Boston over taxes), it seems a distress sale is more likely. I know she evokes strong sentiments, but itâs indisputable that she was an innovator and hugely positive influence on the Boston dining scene.
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The NY Times has followed her downfall and has had a few articles. Basically what I know comes form reading those. I guess you can have a bad girl chef as well as bad boy chefs.
Itâs such a sad story. She has demons no doubt. I do not in any way excuse the toxic behavior she apparently indulged in but there is a whole generation of chefs operating restaurants in Boston and beyond who came up under her and credit her for helping them develop their own styles. The gastronomic scene in Greater Boston would be much poorer if she had not been part of it.
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To the extent Lynch engaged in and legitimated toxic and potentially illegal behavior, one could very easily dispute her âhugely positive influence on the Boston dining scene.â
Concerns about withholding tips, harassing employees and not paying oneâs property taxes for over a decade are very far from what many might describe as setting a positive example.
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I agree. I understand she had to adjust to the toxic mostly male environment to succeed, and that she came from a very tough childhood and adult background. Withhholding tips and harssing employees crosses some very significant lines.
Lydia Shire is a contemporary who came into the Boston restaurant scene around the same time. Itâs not fair to compare individual cases directly. Itâs easy to say all should make better choices. But not all have the capacity to make better choices.
I hope Barbara Lynch is able to get help to heal her trauma. People deal with trauma differently, as I know firsthand having adopted a foster child when he was 7 who experienced very severe early trauma. Itâs hard to find good trauma therapy even in the Boston area. Today.
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Quite a legacy:
Galleria Italiana
#9 Park was THE place in itâs early years, and maintained a high level of excellence and relevance throughout
The Butcher Shop and B&G were ahead of their time for Boston
Sportello offered excellent pasta dishes before Boston was rife with them
Drink mixed the best cocktails that ever existed in this city
I was never a fan of Menton though. I found it laughably pretentious and it just didnât to that type of establishment in other cities.
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No. 9 was fabulous to the endâŚwe had a great meal last month.
My SO gave me the âoyster shucking classâ at B & G one year â more than just a lesson on how to shuck, it was a tour of oysters from PEI to Virginia, and a lesson in the effects of temparture and salinity. I can shuck about 3 per minute after that lesson, not enough to make a living but good enough to entertain friends.
I never warmed to SportelloâŚthe atmosphere struck me as sterile. Menton, on the other hand: Iâve described elsewhere on HO a surprise bâday my SO organized there that was wonderful AND surprisingly affordable. No charge for the private room, delicious and very reasonable wines. They took the birthday boy into the kitchen during service, and it was an unforgettable visit.
It is quite a legacy.
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Will miss Drink, Sportello, Butcher Shop and No 9 Park a lot. They each in their own way blossomed into having their own identity and each were very unique in what they offered and often over-delivered on the quality of the food and service.
A butcher shop/restaurant hybrid? Unheard of.
A cocktail bar that limits its capacity and doesnât have a drink list readily available? Unheard of.
A restaurant where everyone is sitting ringside overlooking the service and open kitchen at two horse-shaped counters? Nearly unheard of as well.
The innovation was amazing. Chef Lynch had her faults, Iâm not excusing what happened but I will cherish my experiences at her varying establishments and will miss them greatly. I really, really miss Drink. Friend came into town from Europe and we wanted drinks and I wanted to go there so badly. We went to Tiki Rock instead (Europe doesnât really have much Tiki anything going on so figured Iâd be fun and unique)
Honestly I kind of feel like the media dragging her business into the spotlight is a bit much. I feel sorry for her, at least a bit. I hope she gets the help that she needs and a bit more privacy as she works through her issues.
Her contributions to the Boston dining scene, which certainly donât outshine what she did wrong, certainly were immeasurable.
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Not excusing any of the accusations, but shine a bright light on any of us and who know what you might find. Our culture loves to build people up and then tear them down.
My point exactly. Could be any of us screwing up and then being thrown into the wolves like that. Again - not excusing what she did but thereâs way more serious crimes being committed regularly and those people arenât even on page 2. Or 3.
The recent so-over-the-top Boston Globe story on people pawing through her personal belongings at the recent estate sale at her home is appalling.
She did a lot for the Boston restaurant scene. She did a lot of questionable things in dealing with employees, some of those things abusive and illegal, if true (withholding tips). She didnât pay her taxes. She came from an exceptionally difficult background as a child and did some really wonderful things as an adult and was very accomplished at much of what she did, against very hard odds. She got in over her head, emotionally, managerially, financially.
All of those things can be true at once. However, no one deserves these voyeuruist photos of strangers pawing through her clothes, her books, her home, her bedroom, opening her refrigerator.
No one deserves this and I am angry at the Globe for âcoveringâ this story with horrific photographs of someoneâs, anyoneâs private home.
I hope Barbara Lynch is able to find a safe harbor and healing.
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Can they do this without âconsentâ from the homeowner? Iâm not sure. . . . without the press around the sale . . . very few would have attended and they wouldnât have made as much money. Just saying, i donât think this is such a black and white situation.
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I was talking about the Globe press coverage after the estate sale. Reports of people opening her refrigerator and saying what they saw in it. What her clothes looked like.
Again, after the sale had taken place.
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I agree with you. I read the article and was appalled as well at what was a complete invasion of privacy.
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You can thank the rise of âcelebrity chefâ culture. Food Network cough cough.
Down here in the DMV the downfall of Mike Isabella was widely publicized. The schadenfreude was off the charts.
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Well that is just disgusting. Regardless of what you think of Lynch. What have we become?
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