Under a makeshift tent, a staging spot for plating his culinary creations at the Brock residence in East Hampton, Flynn McGarry, a phenomenon as a young chef with his own Lower East Side restaurant, Gem, and a new documentary about him, Chef Flynn, shook hands, his fingers coated in egg yolk. “That’s how you want your chef,” smiled Flynn, at the party celebrating him, the movie about him, and the Hamptons International Film Festival’s Summerdocs 10th Anniversary: “Enjoy my food, and my life,” he told the crowd. He is 19. His Beef Tartare on a grilled lettuce cup, beautifully situated on trays, was a delight to look at, fleurettes with a sprinkle of sesame seed, and even better to eat.

Now a celebrity chef, he went head to head with Alec Baldwin following the Guild Hall screening. Baldwin, an adept interviewer, grilled him on missing out on middle school and beyond: Taking the challenge of explaining his choices, following his passion for working with food, rather than staying in an adolescent environment: “I had nothing in common with my classmates,” he said. Filmmaker Cameron Yates cleverly followed his subject for six years, making the film a compelling family story, Flynn’s mother Meg a star in the nurturing of her extraordinary son. An actress and filmmaker, Meg McGarry is, shall we say, an unusual mother. Director Yates’ favorite film is the Maysles brothers’ Grey Gardens.

Among the celebrants was Florence Fabricant, NYTimes food writer. You wonder what she made of Flynn’s assertion that salt, brown butter, and lemon can make any dish sing, and what Flynn thought of the local fare. The young chef was taken out to dinner at Nick & Toni’s.

Regina Weinreich

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