3 Winter Place
Boston, MA 02108
617-542-1340
To get a sense of the long and storied history surrounding Locke-Ober, consider that the Ward Eight cocktail was invented by a bartender there in 1898 – 23 years after the restaurant opened.
The Victorian décor hasn’t changed much since those days, and neither has Locke-Ober’s reputation for classic continental cuisine served in a refined setting. While preserving its longstanding tradition, chef Lydia Shire, who purchased the restaurant with restaurateur Paul Licari in 2001, has added her creative genius to the menu. The balance of tradition and innovation keep the restaurant current.
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Born in Brookline, Massachusetts and raised by artist parents, Chef Lydia Shire's earliest memories of life in the kitchen are of peeling garlic alongside her father at the age of four. Fast forward and Shire was again in the kitchen, now cooking for her husband and three children as a young bride. Then she made her move, first with a position as 'salad girl', slicing paté and opening oysters, at the venerable Maison Robert. Then it was on to London's Cordon Bleu Cooking School, and then back to Maison Robert as a Line Cook. Three and a half years later Shire became Head Chef at this prestigious dining room, and history was in the making.
Shire made her mark in Boston's most respected restaurants: Harvest, Café Plaza at The Copley Plaza Hotel, Parker's at the Parker House Hotel, all the while earning critical praise and coveted Four Star reviews. She opened Seasons at the Bostonian Hotel in 1982, where restaurant and chef were nationally recognized for 'excellence' and 'daring' - two descriptives that embody Shire.
In the fall of 1986, Shire was asked to open the new Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, as the Executive Chef, making her the first female Executive Chef in the Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts Company to open a luxury property.
The sun and glamour of California could not sway Shire from her ultimate dream of opening her own restaurant in Boston. She realized this dream in 1989 with the opening of BIBA ('Back in Boston Again'). Shire's BIBA was the cutting edge of international cuisine. A chef of vision and talent, Shire presented a bold and daring menu arranged by types of food (fish, offal, meat, starch, legumina and sweets). Boston had never seen the likes of BIBA before.
The critical acclaim poured in, and the James Beard Foundation honored Shire as "America's Best Chef - Northeast "and" Who's Who of Food & Beverage in 1991. That same year, Food & Wine Magazine reported that Shire was "One of America's Top Ten Chefs." In 1994, Shire earned the prestigious Ivy Award for up and coming trendsetters. The James Beard Foundation again acknowledged her, this time nominated as "One of America's Top Five Chefs" in 1996.
In 1994, she opened Pignoli to rave reviews, and then in 2001, Shire shocked 'proper Bostonians' as she dared to take over the city's venerable Locke-Ober. Shire restored the restaurant's opulence and grand tradition of fine American and European cuisine. Again she made history as the chef/owner at this institution which had proudly prohibited women from its dining room for ninety seven years.
An avid collector, Shire's zest for life is fueled by her love of travel, and her eye for quality. She has logged thousands of miles traveling the world, bringing to her home and restaurants additions to her collections of copper, silver, antique children's clothes, and photography.
A never-ending creative force, Shire's passion for excellence and creativity is evident in all that she does, inside and outside the restaurant. A seasoned pro at a young age, Shire's kitchen has proven a fertile training ground for some of the city's finest culinary talent. She continues her commitment to hard work and limitless creativity, expanding to Maine with the opening of Blue Sky at the Atlantic House Hotel on York Beach and, back on the home front, Scampo, located in Boston's Liberty Hotel, a national historic landmark that was once the storied Charles Street Jail.
