Short Synopsis
Blood, Bones, & Butter meets A Devil in the Kitchen in this funny, fierce, and poignant memoir by world-renowned chef, restaurateur, and Top Chef judge Barbara Lynch, recounting her rise from a hard-knocks South Boston childhood to culinary stardom.

Full Synopsis
Celebrated chef Barbara Lynch credits the defiant spirit of her upbringing in tough, poor "Southie," a neighborhood ruled by the notorious Whitey Bulger gang, with helping her bluff her way into her first professional cooking jobs; develop a distinct culinary style through instinct and sheer moxie; then dare to found an empire of restaurants ranging from a casual but elegant "clam shack" to Boston's epitome of modern haute cuisine.

One of seven children born to an overworked single mother, Lynch was raised in a housing project. She earned a daredevil reputation for boosting vehicles (even a city bus), petty theft, drinking and doing drugs, and narrowly escaping arrest—haunted all the while by a painful buried trauma.

Out of Line describes Lynch's remarkable process of self-invention, including her encounters with colorful characters of the food world, and vividly evokes the magic of creation in the kitchen. It is also a love letter to South Boston and its vanishing culture, governed by Irish Catholic mothers and its own code of honor. Through her story, Lynch explores how the past—both what we strive to escape from and what we remain true to—can strengthen and expand who we are.

"Christina Delaine narrates this audiobook with effervescent joy. Her enthusiasm for the cooking, dining, and restaurant experiences of chef Barbara Lynch makes her narration especially satisfying." ---AudioFile

"If you have an appetite for culinary adventure, you'll devour the feisty and fun memoir by James Beard award-winning chef and philanthropist Barbara Lynch.” ---ELLE Magazine

"Foodies will enjoy the vivid language used to describe Lynch's food exploits, and old neighbors will be treated to a trip around south Boston through the eyes of a local." ---Library Journal

"Her bubbly exuberance and drive dominate the story . . . Few will be able to resist stories like the one of her conversation with the aging Julia Child about sex." ---Booklist

“This is a candid telling of how a devil-may-care attitude gave rise to one of the most powerful female restaurateurs in the country today.” ---BookPage