Film Forum

While many of his peers were still playing with toy cars, Flynn McGarry was creating remarkable gastronomic delights at his home in Studio City, California. Enjoying unwavering support from his mother Meg, an artist who documented every step of his distinctive journey, he devoted himself entirely to his creative passion. Flynn loved to prepare elaborate dinners for friends and family and soon became known as the “Teen Chef,” establishing his own supper club at age 12 and being featured in a New York Times Magazine cover story at age 15. Before he was 16, he had staged in top restaurants in Los Angeles, New York, and Europe. But critics soon emerged who challenged Flynn’s rapid ascent in the culinary world, threatening to distract him from his dream. Pairing Meg's exhaustive home videos with intimate vérité footage, director Cameron Yates (The Canal Street Madam) creates a collage of Flynn’s singular focus and one-of-a-kind childhood. The result is a uniquely comprehensive portrait of a young star’s rise as seen from the inside.

USA    2018    83 MINS.     KINO LORBER

FREE special Chanterelle Vadouvan popcorn seasoning, created by Flynn especially for our run, is now available at our concession stand!

Gem, Flynn McGarry’s first permanent restaurant, serves a 12 course menu to two seatings of 18 guests Tuesday through Saturday.

Reviews

“Lusciously edible. One of the most wondrous wunderkinds ever to hit the American culinary scene, self-taught teenage chef Flynn McGarry.”
– Guy Lodge, Variety

“Involving and mouthwatering. Cameron Yates follows the budding career of Flynn McGarry, the California wunderkind who was creating hot-ticket tasting menu dinners at 12 and working under some of the world’s most celebrated chefs at 13.”
– John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter

“A fine film about a contentious relationship between a mother and her son, who has become a star in the culinary world despite his young age. A remarkably intimate look at trying to raise a young superstar. Like a real-life RATATOUILLE, showing an unlikely chef excelling at his profession due to his passion and creativity. CHEF FLYNN serves up something heartwarming and relatable.”
– Matt Goldberg, Collider

“(Flynn) proves himself to be an exceptionally gifted, intuitive, and inventive chef by any measure, capable of going head to head with his more established peers.”
– Hannah Goldfield, The New Yorker (“A Nineteen-Year-Old Chef Masters the Rules of Fine Dining”)