Chef Barbara Lynch gets taken down

Here’s the Times’s.

YOU get a paywall, and YOU get a paywall

Both pay walled.

Learn to use archive dot ph, darlings

And the Times

She got drunk and shouted at her employees that she doesn't want any negativity in her life.

I'd call her a Karen, except she also threatened to shove a guy's head through a window.

Also it looks like about 25 people went to the Times with their stories, so this isn't merely a case of sour grapes. I suppose she'll do the rehab and apology thing, but I don't think there's any coming back from this.

Is she sexually harassing men and women?

Yes, r7, per the article she got drunk and grabbed groins of all kinds. The epitome of a hot mess.

R2: here you go

Tim Dearing, the one who promised to ‘drag’ her, is quite cute

[...]

Tim Dearing can drag my ass right down on his cock.

I think she's tremendous.

She looks like one who doesn’t suffer fools. As to the butthurt staffers the old saying “if you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen” applies. If you want to cook or wait tables there are 100s of other restaurants.

She'll do the 12 step thing and try to "make amends" after sobering up for a hot minute. I don't know one "makes amends" for sexual harassment and depriving people unfairly of their livelihoods by firing them without cause. Some people in AA just need to go to meetings and shut the fuck in other parts of their lives. Many remain abusive in AA.

I don't think getting drunk, threatening to push people out of windows, and grabbing asses and crotches is merely "not suffering fools."

She seemed nasty when she guested on Top Chef. Dark energy.

Watch you’re back…she’s got cousins in Southie, and you may get ‘Bulgered’ by them.

Your^

One of the articles mentioned that she was beloved because she came from Southie and made good, and that's why she got away with so much, but I had to think that it was more like people knew not to cross someone from Southie who still has Southie friends as well as a few well-placed cousins as local politicians.

Those days are over.

So glad I did not choose this career. I'd thought about it seriously when young. Seems as if it's filled with extremely fucked up individuals with huge egos.

Worked in the food industry. Chefs are nuts and usually alcoholics.

[quote] Chefs are nuts and usually alcoholics.

And success just makes it worse!

Not sure how we will get anything done. You can’t yell at workers anymore and they don’t want to do anything. What will we motivate with side eye glances and pursed lips? Discipline is necessary, insane we’re to a point where people don’t believe they’re born feral.

She sounds awful, but is she anymore awful than male chefs? Many are notoriously caustic, or coke heads, or pussy hounds, or all of the above.

yes R18 bulgur will fill you with bricks.

Greg? Where is Greg!

If there were possibly a point in time where he’d be valuable…this is it!

Drunken old cunt is drunk and cunty.

Groundbreaking!

Except for Drink and Sportello, her restaurants have been going downhill for years. Local best-of lists, James Beard nods, etc. have not gone to Lynch & co. for some time.

Greg's not a chef R28.

Is there any restaurant that isn't toxic to work at? Where the manager or chef or owner isn't drunk at some point yelling at staff? I think its a shitty job, but anyone acting like this is unusual or outrageous has never walked the walk.

Why are kitchens such dens of iniquity?

Frances McDormand should play her in the movie version. They look like sisters.

R31. You’ve no sense of humor, nor true understanding of Gerg’s talents.

McDormand won her Tony for playing a Southie, do that might work!

I need to buy everyone here "I Love Sausage" and "I Love Tongue" T Shirts.

She's a CLASS ACT!!!

Can you imagine an evening in the back bay with this bitch and the Wahlbergs?

It would be like Boondock Saints.

[quote]You’ve no sense of humor, nor true understanding of Gerg’s talents.

It's a troll but hi and bye Greg. Another sock?

Fuck off, R38.

[quote] Greg? Where is Greg! If there were possibly a point in time where he’d be valuable…this is it!

Here I am.

This is all very unfortunate and disappointing. These are some amazing restaurants and I’ve only had positive dining experiences at No. 9 Park, The Butcher Shop, Menton, and B&G Oysters. It’s always a treat to eat or drink in one of Lynch’s establishments. I wonder what will happen next.

R14 = toxic boss everyone hates

What is brain? Brain and brain!

Former restaurant worker here. When a restaurant is hot (new, popular, lots of buzz), workers will put up with a lot of shit just to be working there. I definitely put up with a lot of bad working conditions and I was never even working at a hot, new restaurant.

Sounds like the restaurants' popularity had died down and the boss's drinking got out of control. I can almost guarantee that cocaine was involved. Not sure why she couldn't attend the funeral of one of her workers.

This kind of behavior seems to go hand in hand with a certain kind of trendy/"rock and roll" type restaurant.

I lived in Chicago and for a while, every few months would bring forth another story of someone being wildly demanding/inappropriate/abusive.

Good food and a special experience is an art form, but too many of these people end up getting high on the smell of their own farts and just get ridiculous.

She sounds like a real cunt. I bet her soufflés taste like shit.

[quote] Sounds like the restaurants' popularity had died down

This is not a case of a popular restaurant no longer being popular. Lynch’s restaurants are icons in Boston. They are the very definition of fine dining. When you go to a Barbara Lynch restaurant, you know you’ll spend a lot of money to eat fine food in a sophisticated, refined environment with the most careful service. And, at her more casual spots like B&G Oysters or The Butcher Shop (still expensive but casual), you’ll be treated to excellent food in a chic environment.

As far as I know, all of these restaurants are still very popular and are places where Boston’s elite go to eat and drink.

I love her prune-stuffed gnocchi with four gras. It’s been on the menu since day one and is a customer favorite.

Damn autocorrect. Foie gras.

That's nice, Greg, but why is she such a bitch?

I suspect because she’s a very bad alcoholic and no one can challenge her behavior.

And she’s worse than that.

If you're eating foie gras, then you're a little cochon.

And that means pig!

I thought Cuddles means pig?

Chefs are one of the careers with the highest percentage of sociopaths.

You’re right.

Here's the chef's tasting menu at Menton. $180 for the food, $135 for the wine. Dessert is carrot cake. I wonder what kind of spin they put on carrot cake.

I think the food industry is a refuge for certain types of people, such as those whose souls cannot abide joining corporate America or are unwilling to adapt to a normal office workday or those figuring life out or trying to get a side hustle going.

It’s hard for these folks to transition to careers in retail or corporate or whatever.

R56, I think it's the opposite. Restaurant work is really hard on the body. Most of the people I know got out of restaurants, went back to school, whatever. I know there are more physically taxing jobs, but I did it for 5 years and I'd say it's taxing, physically. I went back to school and now have a white-collar job.

That menu does not sound good. Squid ink and oysters. No thanks.

What’s new with this story?

Gerg is very unhappy with all of this. He was THE target demographic for her type of “fine” dining, as much as one could use that term when referring to Boston restaurants.

It's honestly amazing just how many chefs are alcoholics or drug users. I'd love to know whether it's the job that makes them that way, the kind of people who are attracted to the job or a combination of both.

^ the latter! “For sure,” as European tennis players always say.

The Globe ran a follow up last week.

So the double hit job didn't take, eh? Love a resilient cunt.

Aren’t all chefs monsters who create a toxic work environment? Is this news?

R64 you May have misunderstood…

[quote] Gerg is very unhappy with all of this. He was THE target demographic for her type of “fine” dining, as much as one could use that term when referring to Boston restaurants.

R60, you have no idea what you're talking about.

R60, we really don't expect you to read, but for the other people out here who do:

In 2017, Barbara Lynch was included in Time magazine's "Top 100 Most Influential People of the Year" for her pioneering contributions in the culinary world and her focus on local wealth creation through agronomy.

In 2014, she was the second woman to be awarded the James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Restaurateur, which honors "a working restaurateur who sets high national standards in restaurant operations and ownership."

In 2013, she won James Beard Awards for who's who of food & beverage in America; the award for outstanding wine program (No. 9 Park) in 2012; and best chef in the Northeast (No. 9 Park) in 2003.

After Lynch opened No. 9 Park, the restaurant was named one of the “Top 25 New Restaurants in America” by Bon Appétit and “Best New Restaurant” by Food & Wine.

Lynch is the sole female Relais & Châteaux grand chef in North America.

Her first cookbook, "Stir: Mixing It Up in The Italian Tradition," received a Gourmand Award for Best Chef Cookbook in the US in 2009.

I made her Bolognese back in 2010 or so, from her book "Stir." Bolognese is one of my five or ten best foods, and I have made many versions over the years (io sono molto vecchio). I left out the lamb as I don't like it much, but otherwise followed the recipe as written. I didn't like it, mostly because of the liver, and I never made it again.

I've actually never found a recipe I like more than Marcella Hazan's, which was the first I ever made, back in 1980.

Here's the Barbara Lynch recipe:

Chicken livers in Bolognese add a richness that is unmatched.

So, the issue is she’s a mean drunk? Is that our business?

[quote]Chicken livers in Bolognese add a richness that is unmatched.

Which would be fine if they added no flavor. They are welcome to contribute both flavor and richness to chicken liver pâté. But leave the Bolognese alone.

[quote]I left out the lamb

So, you didn't actually make her Bolognese.

^ Technically true, yes. But if I had put lamb in it, I wouldn't have wanted to eat it.

[quote] Technically true, yes. But if I had put lamb in it, I wouldn't have wanted to eat it.

So you don’t want to eat her Bolognese.

[quote] Lynch’s restaurants are icons in Boston. They are the very definition of fine dining. When you go to a Barbara Lynch restaurant, you know you’ll spend a lot of money to eat fine food in a sophisticated, refined environment with the most careful service.

Not any more, according to the article.

[quote] I love her prune-stuffed gnocchi with four gras. It’s been on the menu since day one and is a customer favorite.

You and your motherfucking PRUNES.

She went to confession; her penance: three each of the Hail Mary and Our Father, a rosary…and a week with Greg on the Cape.

Anyone excusing Barbara's toxic behavior, has clearly never worked for someone like her.

It's soul crushing. I mean, people are killing themselves with drugs, to cope with the pressure from her behavior.

Dozens are quitting because of her behavior.

Managers keep her away from customers and staff, because of her behavior.

This woman clearly needs to take a step back and realize that she's an addict with a problem.

She claims that she can "handle" her drinking (and whatever else she's taking) and that she would never let it affect her business.

But like most addicts, she's delusional.

It IS affecting her business.

I'm not a fan of AA, and I'm guessing that she isn't either.

Surely though, there must be some kind of help out there for her.

[quote] You and your motherfucking PRUNES.

YOU and your motherfucking ATTITUDE.

Lose it.

[quote] She went to confession; her penance: three each of the Hail Mary and Our Father, a rosary…and a week with Greg on the Cape.

Make it two weeks and you’ve got yourself a deal.

R79 don’t make Greg mad, not in his condition

Her behavior mirrors other high-profile chefs who have been caught being total fucking assholes over the years. They have to resign, eventually their restaurants fade away and close. I hope that Chef Lynch has saved some of the money she's been making hand over fist all these years. She'll need it for herself and she'll need it for the lawsuits. Of course there are civil suits coming, probably quite a few of them.

Interesting that two big newspapers dropped their stories against Chef Lynch on the same day. I'd like to learn how that came to pass. It's fairly unusual, I would expect it from the Boston Globe for obvious reasons but I wouldn't necessarily expect this story from the New York Times. Don't they have abusive chefs of their own to go after in New York? I'm quite sure that they do. Odd.

Thank you, R82.

My condition is fragile and I’m best not provoked.

[quote] R79 don’t make Greg mad, not in his condition

Spastic colon?

Chronic cuntitude?

R79 rules. YOU are my friend.

[quote] Spastic colon? Chronic cuntitude?

Spastic cuntitude.

[quote] Oh, R87, those prune-stuffed gnocchi are delicious. I wish we could go there together and enjoy them.

^R77

CORRECTION: In above post, it should say R77.