Flynn McGarry, whose restaurant Gem opened two years ago in New York’s Lower East Side, is just 21 years old. He welcomed us wearing T-shrit of Keith Haring’s “Radiant Baby” printed on the pocket.
What in food attracts the rising star chef.
Perhaps more surprising than his young age is the fact that he has been a chef for 11 years. At the age of 10, he was already teaching himself to cook using cookbooks and YouTube videos. By age 11, he was hosting $160, ten-course dinners for grownups at his home. After interning from age 14 to 16 at Eleven Madison Park and other culinary institutions in New York, McGarry opened a pop-up in New York straight after graduating high school and launched his career.
Seating at Gem is limited to ten per day. Customers are served a colorful twelve-course meal of beautifully decorated vegetable-focused dishes, each one surprisingly rich in texture and flavor. McGarry oversees everything from the flowers on the table to the tableware, furniture, and other interior decorations, and even serves the food himself.
“What I love about food is that it brings everything together,” says McGarry. “In this restaurant, I get to do design, fashion—what I’m wearing—and I get to do the food as well as the music. A restaurant is a place where you create a vision. When you walk in these doors, you are in that vision. I think of this place as a canvas that displays different pictures as I change as a person.”
McGarry’s vision is inspired by cultures around the world, beginning with Scandinavia—where he lived when he was 16—and extending to the rest of Europe, Japan, Mexico, and other U.S. states. He is constantly experimenting with ways to incorporate these cultures into his own style. McGarry’s vision is inspired by cultures around the world, beginning with Scandinavia—where he lived when he was 16—and extending to the rest of Europe, Japan, Mexico, and other U.S. states. He is constantly experimenting with ways to incorporate these cultures into his own style.
Last summer, McGarry closed the restaurant for two months while he traveled around Denmark and other parts of Europe. The trip was an eye-opener for McGarry, who was struck not by the food he encountered but by the relaxed attitude of the chefs and workers at the restaurants he visited.
After ten years of cooking and experiencing different cultures, McGarry says his interests have also expanded. “I’m creative, and I love food, and I’m creative within food—how do I take that and do it in a way that’s not just a restaurant? So in ten years, I want to create chef designed kitchens for homes. It’s a market that no one has tapped into!”
© Keith Haring Foundation. Licensed by Artestar, New York.
PROFILE
Flynn McGarry | McGarry was born in LA.Also known as the “Justin Bieber of food,”McGarry has been cooking since he was ten. He manages, cooks, and designs the interiors at Gem, the New American restaurant he opened in 2018 in New York. Instagram @diningwithflynn
