We brought you the news at the beginning of the week that 16-year-old Flynn McGarry would be opening his first restaurant in New York at the end of September.
We, maybe wrongly, referred to McGarry as a chef with many people in comments expressing their anger that at such a young age and with such a small amount of experience, he hasn’t earned the title.
McGarry has now responded to critism...
It also seems to have upset some famous chefs with David Santos, who used to run the Louro restaurant in the same area that McGarry will open, tweeting a rather strong response to the news:
“I’m sorry but I hope I'm not the only chef that's offended by this. I shit this morning more knowledge and life on the line than a 16-year-old has. The fact the media even calls him a chef offends me to no end. Chef is something you earn through years of being beaten and shit on and taught by some of the greats. Not doing trails that your family pays for. Because as a real chef I don't treat people who trail the same way as people who sweat and bleed for me.
There’s more:
“If you go to this and fork over $160 plus then you're a damn fool because I can name so many more actual chefs that actually deserve that money. Maybe one day he will indeed be a great chef I'm not saying that but earn it before you offend most of us that actually are. And any idiot that works 3 days a week can put together a couple great tasting dishes. If you can't your fucking worthless. Try managing people and dealing with the ins and outs of an operation and still being creative and inspiring to the people that work under you and intrust their futures in the knowledge you will pass onto them. That's a chef, that's what a chef does. It's not about playing dress up and plating a couple of dishes”.
Do you agree with Santos or should we be giving a young man with more drive than most 16-year-olds show a bit of slack? Let us know on Facebook.
You can read McGarry's response to critics and here he is speaking to The New York Times.
Via Eater