At 76 years old, legendary chef Lydia Shire continues to run the show at Scampo in the Liberty Hotel while recently taking over the kitchen at Bar Enza in Cambridge—proving that passion for food has no expiration date.
Shire's five-decade career in Boston's culinary scene has been revolutionary. In an industry historically built on tantrums and testosterone, she became the first female head chef at the Bostonian Hotel and won the James Beard Award for Best Chef, Northeast in 1992. Yet what sets her apart most is her quietly revolutionary approach: treating kitchen staff like human beings.
'We are kind in the kitchen—we don't scream,' Shire explains. 'If I see something wrong, I never point a finger, because that's not the right way to talk to people. We're a team and we're gonna better the situation.'
Shire started cooking with her father at age four and later scraped together just $1,200 to study at Le Cordon Bleu in London. She went on to raise $1.2 million to open Biba, her first restaurant. Through it all, she's remained devoted to bold flavors and generous use of butter—earning her the affectionate title 'Queen of Butter.'
'I really like to give people something they want but wouldn't ask for,' she says. 'If you give a piece of duck with that nice little rim of fat on it, they'll grab it because it tastes so good.'
Now in her sixth decade in the kitchen, Shire says her brain feels 21 years old even as her body has required three spine operations. 'Boy, do I love writing menus,' she reflects. 'I hope people remember me for great flavors and that the way I write a menu—I think I write beautiful menus.'