Flynn McGarry
Flynn McGarry first stepped into the kitchen at the age of 10, where he began cooking for his mother’s friends and creating a full-fledged supper club, Eureka, operating out of their family home. In the years that followed, he had staged in some of the top restaurants in Los Angeles, New York, and Seattle, such as Alma, Eleven Madison Park, and Alinea, all before he was 16. Simultaneously, the Eureka dinners, staffed by family and professionals and serving 20 guests a tasting menu of 14-courses out of McGarry’s kitchen and bedroom, grew into a 120-guest pop-up in venues across L.A, San Francisco, and New York.
This rare combination of youth, creativity, and ambition quickly earned him a bevy of media recognition, and in 2014 he appeared on the cover of The New York Times Magazine, became the youngest honoree on Zagat Los Angeles' "30 Under 30" list, and was named one of the top 25 most influential teens from Time magazine.
At the age of 19, he opened his first permanent, fine dining restaurant, Gem, in New York City's Lower East Side neighborhood, which received a glowing two-star review from critic Pete Wells for The New York Times. In November that same year, he was the subject of the documentary “Chef Flynn” that debuted in theaters nationwide. Gem has since expanded its fine dining space to include a wine bar location in the same neighborhood in downtown New York, showcasing the varied breadth of low-intervention and biodynamic wine makers he personally works with.
