Ooooffff…

After the recent announcement that Southie native and celebrity chef Barbara Lynch would be closing all of her restaurants, the City of Boston is now suing her to ensure that nearly $1.7 million in unpaid personal taxes get paid.

The Boston Globe is reporting that a lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Suffolk Superior Court that claims Lynch owes $589,430 in back taxes at No. 9 Park and $156,188 at B&G Oysters that date back to 2011; $515,107 at Menton and $134,714 at Drink that have gone unpaid since 2015; $148,269 at the Butcher Shop unpaid since 2013; $124,995 at Sportello that date back to 2012; and $8,003 in taxes at Stir that have accrued since 2017.

The city has requested to file a temporary restraining order against Lynch to preserve assets with the goal of ensuring that should a sale of the restaurants go through, any back taxes would be paid.

Lynch said via statement regarding the closures, “I am very proud of what I have achieved over three decades, creating these much-loved entities where so many of you chose to celebrate your special occasions. The harsh realities of the global pandemic and the many difficulties faced calls for significant investment, which neither myself nor my fellow shareholders are positioned to do.”

Considered a driving force in the restaurant industry, Lynch put Boston on the map with her James Beard award-winning restaurant No. 9 Park.

You can get all the details here.