Summerguide 2012

I use the same lobster salad [as the Lemon Aïoli Lobster Rolls] to make my signature lobster BLT, serving the lobster on toasted ciabatta rolls and topping it with a couple of slices of crisp bacon (preferably Niman Ranch applewood smoked bacon) and a few pieces of the tomato confit. Instead of fries, I serve the BLT with homemade potato chips.

4 lobsters, each about 1 ¼ pounds
1 cup Lemon Aïoli or 1 cup Hellmann’s mayonnaise mixed with 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup peeled, very finely chopped celery Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 top-split hot dog rolls (I like Pepperidge Farm)
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and fill a clean sink or very large bowl with ice water.

Cook the lobsters, covered, for about 10 minutes. Plunge them into the ice water to halt the cooking. Twist the tails off the bodies. Cut each tail lengthwise into 2 pieces, removing the intestinal tracts. Remove the claw meat by snapping off the little pincers first. Using the back of a heavy chef’s knife or good kitchen scissors, crack open the claws and remove the meat. Remove the knuckle meat too. Cut the meat into generous bitesized pieces. Gently toss the lobster meat with the aïoli and celery. Season to taste with salt and pepper and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Source: Stir: Mixing It Up in the Italian Tradition (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009), by Barbara Lynch

Barbara Lynch’s Awards and Recognitions:

Awards, Titles & Activities–

James Beard Award-winner in 2003 “Best Chef Northeast;

Only female in the United States to hold the distinguished title of Grand Chef Relais & Chateaux;

In 2009 Barbara received the Crittenton Women’s Union’s Amelia Earhart Award. Past recipients include Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Julia Child;

Member of Bocuse d’Or USA’s culinary Council, Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, and Les Maitres Cuisiniers;

Judged the Bocuse d’Or Commis and Finalist Competition in 2012;

Women Chefs & Restaurateurs presented her with the 2011 Barbara Tropp President’s Award;

Panelist and speaker at events including The Ad Club’s Women in Leadership Forum, the Massachusetts Conference for Women, and Women Chefs & Restaurateurs’ National Conference;

In 2011, she and the Gruppo team launched an initiative dedicated to cultivating healthy, sustainable eating habits through hands-on learning in gardens and classrooms at Boston’s at-risk schools.

Publications–

Recipes featured in Saveur, Boston Common, Bon Appetit, The New York Times, and Inc. magazine;

No. 9 Park, in the Boston Beacon Hill neighborhood, named one of the “Top 25”;

No. 9 Park was named “Best Restaurant, General Excellence” by Boston Magazine. Gourmet included it as one of “America’s Top 50 Restaurants” in 2006;

New Restaurants in America” by Bon Appetit, and “Best New Restaurant” by Food & Wine;

Menton received several accolades including being named one of Bon Appetit and Esquire magazines best new restaurants in 2010 and a 4 star review from The Boston Globe in 2012 and AAA’s Five Diamond Award and Forbes Travel Guide’s Five-Star Award;

Travel & Leisure proclaimed No. 9 Park one of the “Top 50 Restaurants in America”;

In 2007, Boston Magazine named Barbra “Best Chef”;

Her first cookbook, Stir, Mixing It Up in The Italian Tradition, was published by Houghton Mifflin in fall 2009 and immediately received a prestigious Gourmand award for “Best Chef Cookbook” for the United States.

Television–

Profiled into the ABC-TV documentary series Boston 24/7 and she’s the subject of a documentary film entitled Amuse Bouche–A Chef’s Tale;

She’s appeared on Today and as a judge on The Food Network.