Flynn McGarry is not like other 16-year-olds. While most boys his age are having their first kiss and trying out for the soccer team, McGarry has just opened up his own high-end restaurant, Eureka. He moved to New York from California to follow his dream, as so many have done before him, but this prodigious chef accomplished his goal of opening a restaurant before even finishing high school. His story makes us question the restraints of education, how we can be inspired by what others have done but also how we inspire ourselves.
McGarry is driven by his boundless creativity and his refusal to settle for anything less than incredible. In a 2014 New York Times interview , he explains his success by saying he “gets bored easily.” However, the way he masters entrées, like his elaborate “Beet Wellington,” or his sea-water-brined sea urchin with carrot cremeaux and coffee-pickled carrots, are not a testament to someone who gets bored and gives up. He gets bored and digs deeper to find a harmony in the flavors of his dishes. When he isn’t inspired, he doesn’t give up.
The artistry of McGarry is not one that can be taught at culinary school. It is an intrinsic part of his being. He is finishing high school online so he can concentrate on his craft. The confines of the traditional American high school hinder his quest, save for art classes where he ponders the aesthetic aspect of creating a dish. Working with other chefs has given Flynn the foundation he needs to flourish in the culinary world. His dream is supported by his artistic family, who filmed him cooking since he was very young, as well as his community in California that supported his supper club and helped him rise to stardom.
As we get older, we may lose sight of our craziest dreams. Flynn’s success reminds us to latch on to the visions we had when we were younger and not to let little stumbling blocks hold us back from greatness. Not everything we create, every paper we write or test we take or drawing we make, will be perfect the first time. Heck, this article isn’t perfect. The flaws in our “completed” work may discourage us, but they’re really just opportunities to get us to think harder about where we succeeded and how to draw out that success in what we create. The creative process is unending and we’re never truly finished with our work, which gives us a ceaseless opportunity to succeed. McGarry creates crazy meals. They may have been flops at first, or ordinary, or “boring.” But he added and took away components of his dish, and eventually he whittled exactly enough away to create a certain perfection. The pure energy of this foodie wunderkind is inside each one of us, and we too can build our strengths to achieve personal accomplishment in everything we do.
