Luxury isn’t going away, but in my dream world I want it to be community-driven, accessible and delicious,” she said at the time. “I want you to be promoted.”

It was a homecoming for Lynch, who lives in Gloucester but had spent her career running destination restaurants like No. 9 Park and Menton to take over. These restaurants have been around since the late 1990s, when they were no. 9 Park opened, a place-maker in Boston, part of the rise of pioneering female chefs like Jody Adams and Lydia Shire.

“With her strong sense of place in this old, old building, Lynch, a South Boston native who has cooked at Olives and Galleria Italiana, is on her way to creating a Boston landmark. “No. 9 Park is worth the anticipation,” wrote former Globe critic Alison Arnett in 1998.

In 2010, critic Devra First was similarly effusive about Menton, not just for its sophisticated food but also for the poetic nature of the rowdy Lynch, who left a mark on her own neighborhood.

“When the girl from Southie walks into that restaurant in her old backyard and thinks, ‘I made this happen,’ it must feel pretty darn good,” she wrote.

In recent years, however, Lynch’s career has been marked by turmoil: an arrest for drunk driving, charges of toxic workplace culture following the deaths of two Menton employees, and the closure of well-known establishments including The Butcher Shop, Menton and Stir.

In 2023, she made a statement reflecting on the turmoil and promising to focus on her Gloucester restaurant:

“As a chef for 25 years, I have defied the odds and opened eight award-winning restaurants,” she said. “I am now actively involved in the arduous task of creating an outstanding new restaurant in Gloucester. I have built each of Boston’s restaurants using my passion, vision and experience to lead at a high level. I will not allow these recent attacks from my critics to destroy what I have built. I love what I do and I’m determined to move forward and grow by helping more chefs achieve excellence.”

Kara Baskin can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @kcbaskin.