Barbara Lynch

James Beard Award-winner and Relais & Châteaux Grand Chef, Barbara Lynch is regarded as one of the world’s leading chefs and restaurateurs. After working under some of Boston’s greatest culinary talents in her early twenties, Barbara traveled to Italy where she learned about the country’s cuisine firsthand from local women. She returned to her native Boston and became the executive chef at Galleria Italiana, bringing national acclaim to the tiny trattoria when she captured Food & Wine‘s Ten Best New Chefs in America award.

In 1998, Barbara opened a restaurant of her own, No. 9 Park, in Boston’s Beacon Hill. The restaurant immediately received national acclaim including a coveted spot on Bon Appetit’s Top 25 New Restaurants in America and Best New Restaurant by Food & Wine.

Barbara is the author of Stir: Mixing It Up in the Italian Tradition, which received a prestigious Gourmand award for Best Chef Cookbook for the United States. Her second book, a memoir, Out of Line: A Life of Playing with Fire was published in April 2017.

Barbara’s talents have continued to garner praise over the years, both locally and nationally, including James Beard Foundation recognition for Best Chef Northeast (2003), Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America (2013), and Outstanding Restaurateur (2014, Barbara is only the second female to ever receive this honor); Boston Magazine Best Chef (2007); and a spot on the TIME 100, Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2017. Barbara is currently the only female in the United States to hold the distinguished title of Grand Chef Relais & Châteaux.

Barbara oversees seven acclaimed culinary concepts in Boston including No. 9 Park, B&G Oysters, The Butcher Shop, Stir, Drink, Sportello, and Menton. She is considered one of the preeminent chefs and restaurateurs, not only in Boston, but around the globe.