The Star Teen Chef Taking Over New York
At Gem, the 19-year-old culinary wunderkind leads a team of like-minded talents with a goal of reimagining fine dining
"I have a very strong opinion on literally everything that happens in this restaurant," chef Flynn McGarry informs me, matter-of-factly, before a dinner service service at his recently-opened Gem. "We bought one of our cooks new glasses because we didn't like his glasses, and now he loves them."
In McGarry's defense, the entire kitchen sits under a spotlight smack in the middle of the 32-seat dining room, with every cook and server functioning as the cast of a performance he both directs and stars in. And the teen chef wears his perfectionist tendencies in an endearing way. "Obviously, we got his opinion on it, and we took him glasses shopping — it was ridiculous," the wiry 19-year-old adds with just a hint of demure. "It's just this funny thing with tiniest details. That's the stuff that I really care about."