GREATEST HIT
After 20 years, Lamb Fondue remains fan favorite at Lynch’s No. 9 Park
Star chef Barbara Lynch celebrates the 20th anniversary of her famed flagship restaurant, No. 9 Park, on Sunday. That's no small feat. In restaurant years, a two-decade run is an eternity.
And even today, guests will find a few dishes that have been on the restaurant's menu since the very beginning. Lynch loves to challenge herself, but she also knows the value in celebrating her greatest hits.
“Sometimes I wonder what it's like for Aretha Franklin to have to sing her five most important songs,” chuckled Lynch. “You have to, right? That's what makes you. That's who you are.”
Lamb fondue is one of those classics from the day doors opened. It's not going anywhere, but Lynch shared the recipe — also found in her cookbook “Stir: Mixing It Up in the Italian Tradition” — so readers can make their own rendition.
LAMB FONDUE
For the black olive paste: 1 c. black olives, such as Kalamata or Niçoise, pitted 1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil For the fondue: 1 lb. boneless lamb loin, trimmed of any fat and sinew and cut into four pieces 1/4 c. black olive paste or store-bought tapenade About 2 T. unsalted butter,
divided
4 thick slices brioche or other fine-grained white bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 T. extra virgin olive oil 1/2 lb. gorgonzola, crumbled 1/2 c. heavy cream 1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper
Fleur de sel
For the black olive paste: Combine the olives and olive oil in a food processor or a blender. Process on high until pureed, about 1 to 2 minutes.
For the fondue: Rub the lamb with the black olive paste, coating the surface completely. Set aside.
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add as many brioche cubes as will fit in a single layer and cook without moving them until golden brown on one side, about two minutes. Flip the cubes over and toast the other sides, adding more butter, if needed, until golden. Drain the croutons on paper towels. You may need to do this in batches.
Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over mediumhigh heat. Sear the lamb, flipping it once, and cook to rare (120-125 degrees), 4 to 6 minutes, depending on thickness. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the meat to rest for 6 to 8 minutes.
While the meat is resting, combine the cheese, heavy cream, and pepper in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, whisking, until the cheese melts. Pour the cheese sauce into a fondue pot and light the heat source beneath the pot.
Slice the lamb into bitesized pieces. Arrange the meat and the croutons around the fondue pot. Sprinkle the lamb with a tiny bit of fleur de sel. Serve with skewers or fondue forks for dipping. Serves 4.
This Sunday, awardwinning chef and restaurateur Barbara Lynch will celebrate the 20th anniversary of her debut solo venture and flagship, No. 9 Park, where the sophisticated French-Italian cuisine still shines bright from a Beacon Hill townhome.
Lynch, Boston's doyenne of fine dining, has certainly seen her epicurean empire grow over the last two decades. But during this weekend's anniversary service, which will offer a special menu available as a tasting or a la carte, she'll be in the kitchen herself — and working on the line, just as she was when doors first opened.
Some things never change, and maybe they shouldn't. Because in the rapidly transforming landscape of Boston restaurants, and even as Lynch plots upcoming evolutions for some of her other properties, she says the success of No. 9 Park comes down to one increasingly rare attribute:
“Consistency,” Lynch said. “You stay the course, slow and steady.”
She now has eight restaurants to her name, but No. 9 Park is still where Lynch trains new team members because it is “the most fun and also, because it's always busy and has a tiny kitchen, the toughest,” Lynch said. “My mother was tough, and this is the mothership of my restaurants.”
In an industry where attention spans are always darting between buzzy new hot spots and the latest food fads, reliability is actually now a form of uniqueness. No. 9 Park's tried-and-true approach to white-tablecloth dining, an endangered species as young chefs trend casual, and its proud embrace of years-spanning signature dishes — like Lynch's iconic prune-stuffed gnocchi — have secured it loyalists and a legendary status.
No. 9 Park, she hopes, will be around for another 20 years. And she has no plans to change its recipe for success.
“People love the fact that it's so consistent and that it hasn't changed,” Lynch said. “That's what makes it an establishment. That's what makes it iconic.”
Elsewhere, though, she does have a few new tricks up her sleeve. She won't yet divulge the exact direction, but Lynch says that next month she'll start a renovation and repositioning of The Butcher Shop, her 15-yearold South End charcuterie and wine bar.
She just completed a facelift at Menton, the contemporary French-Italian gem she opened in Fort Point in 2010, when she daringly dropped fine dining (and high price points) in a nascent dining neighborhood in the middle of a recession. Menton earned accolades, but its refreshed approach intends to feel less specialoccasion and more inviting. Besides cosmetic changes, there's a new culinary team in chef de cuisine Lucas Sousa, an alum of No. 9 Park, and prodigious pastry chef Giselle Miller, known locally for her innovative sweetsmaking techniques.
Even as No. 9 stays its course, Lynch knows some adaptation is necessary in Boston's fast-developing cityscape — one that doesn't entirely impress the chef. Lynch says she's not blown away by much happening in Boston dining right now (much of the re-
“People love the fact that it’s so consistent and that it hasn’t changed. That’s what makes it an establishment. That’s what makes it iconic.”
ally original stuff is happening in Cambridge, she says) and she's disappointed by the influx of commercial chains — high-end national steakhouses, et cetera — at the expense of independent, chef-owned restaurants.
She doesn't have any current plans to add another brick-and-mortar business to her portfolio, but it's hard to imagine such a workhorse stabling her ambitions for long. After all, her very biography has taken on the air of Boston myth: Grit and flinty spirit took her from hardscrabble 1970s South Boston to the summit of her competitive, male-dominated industry, and most recently her national impact on dining culture, philanthropy and mentorship of next-generation talent earned her a spot on Time magazine's 2017
— Barbara Lynch No. 9 Park owner
list of the world's 100 most influential people.
Lynch's hard-earned ascent was detailed in her memoir, “Out of Line: A Life of Playing with Fire,” published last year and now optioned for film. Unlike other fame-hungry chefs chasing Food Network dreams, Lynch has generally shied away from studio cameras — but ask her who should play her in a film about her life, and she has a few suggestions.
“Sandra Bullock,” offered Lynch. “Maybe Jennifer Lawrence. The older me could be Kathy Bates. The younger me, Ellen Page — or even my daughter!”
What do these women have in common?
“They're no (expletive),” Lynch said. “They don't stand for it. They're strong and they're funny and they're humble.”
Oh, Barbara. Never change.