Imagine being dubbed the "Justin Bieber of food" before you even hit your twenties! That's the reality for Flynn McGarry, the culinary prodigy now bringing a taste of California sunshine to New York City with his latest venture, Cove. But can this former child star translate early fame into lasting success in the cutthroat world of fine dining?
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Inside Cove, it's controlled chaos. On the second night of the "friends and family" soft opening, the 26-year-old McGarry orchestrates the dinner service with the energy of a seasoned conductor. "Fire two corn fritters! Fluke! Tomato!" he calls out, his voice echoing through the vast, wood-paneled space. The team is meticulously running through an eight-course tasting menu in a secluded corner, while à la carte dishes are served to the larger dining area. McGarry, ever the perfectionist, jokingly tells his trusted guests, "We may totally mess up everything – we don’t need to hear your opinion; you’re literally bodies in the room." He's using this night as a crucial dress rehearsal, ironing out the kinks before the real critics arrive.
In the heart of the kitchen, a chef tends to a wood-fired grill, searing cabbage and peppers to smoky perfection. "Fire a sweet potato cake," McGarry directs, his eyes constantly scanning the scene.
But here's where it gets interesting: McGarry's journey is far from typical. He wasn't just any kid chef; he was the kid chef. At just 10 years old, he was already tackling the notoriously complex recipes in Thomas Keller's French Laundry Cookbook. By 11, he was hosting his own supper club, Eureka, out of his family home in California's San Fernando Valley, serving elaborate tasting menus to paying guests. A profile in The New Yorker at age 13 catapulted him into the media spotlight, and by 15, he graced the cover of The New York Times Magazine. He brought Eureka to New York as a pop-up at 16, and after cooking stages at renowned restaurants like Maaemo in Oslo and Geranium in Copenhagen, he opened his first permanent restaurant, Gem, on the Lower East Side in 2018. Cove, located in Hudson Square, marks his most ambitious project to date. It's a significant step up in scale and complexity.
In a private dining room, design publicist Amanda Lee Burkett, McGarry’s girlfriend, hosts a family-style feast for a dozen close friends. The group, a mix of furniture designers, stylists, photographers, and art dealers, represents the creative circle McGarry deeply values. He's a design aficionado himself, even building much of his own furniture (though he wisely enlisted Robert Williams of Grain Wood Studio for the bespoke pieces at Cove).
Camron Booth, a founding partner in the soon-to-open Lore Bathing Club, enjoys a vibrant salad of Greenmarket tomatoes and muscat grapes swimming in a pool of ajo blanco. He recalls meeting furniture designer Ian Felton (his former flatmate, now nibbling on corn and shishito pepper fritters) at a similar pre-opening dinner for Gem. "Camron has probably eaten my food more than most people in New York in this very sort of guinea-pig way,” McGarry jokes, flitting between the kitchen and his friends, his blue apron adorned with a pair of ever-present tweezers.
Despite the lively ambiance, McGarry reveals that the evening hasn't been entirely smooth sailing. The sound system overheated, and the kitchen struggled to balance the demands of the tasting menu and à la carte orders. "I was doing à la carte dishes and I looked over at the tasting room, and I was like, ‘Oh shit, they’re going down,’” he admits. "This is why we have friends and family, so we’re ready for a stranger to come in." It's a reminder that even the most seasoned chefs face challenges, and that the road to perfection is paved with a few minor disasters.
McGarry's earlier culinary endeavors leaned towards Nordic influences. Now, he's embracing his California roots. Cove's name is a tribute to Paradise Cove, a beach near his childhood home in Malibu. "I think I spent a lot of time trying to ignore the California in me," he says, reflecting on his first decade in New York. The new menu is a celebration of California's diverse ingredients and cultural influences, from raw fluke with fresh-grated California wasabi to a warm sweet potato and fig cake. "Every California chef has these immigrant influences – Mexico, Japan,” he explains. “I’ve started to take a larger view of the idea of California, because nobody really knows what Californian food is.” And this is the part most people miss: Californian cuisine isn't just about avocados and kale; it's a vibrant tapestry woven from diverse cultures and culinary traditions.
Cove is available to book on Open Table.
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Controversy & Comment Hooks:
- Is it fair to expect so much from a chef who achieved fame so young? Does early success set an impossibly high bar, or does it provide invaluable experience?
- Can McGarry truly redefine Californian cuisine, or is it an impossible task given the state's ever-evolving culinary landscape?
- What are your thoughts on "friends and family" nights? Are they a necessary evil, or a genuine opportunity for feedback and improvement?
Share your thoughts in the comments below! Do you think Flynn McGarry will succeed in capturing the essence of California at Cove? Or is he trying to do too much, too soon?
