Justin Bieber of the culinary world makes a guest appearance at Regent Taipei – starting price for meals is NT$3,800

▲ Chef Flynn McGarry, just 17 years old, arrives at Regent Taipei on August 31. (Photo / Huang Shih-yuan)

Reported by Huang Shih-yuan / Taipei

Chef Flynn McGarry, just 17 years old, launched a three-day guest chef performance at Regent Taipei on August 31. The lunch menu consists of five courses at NT$3,800 per person, with a limit of 40 people per session; the dinner menu includes eight courses at NT$8,800 per person (including five selected pairing wines), with a limit of 80 people per session.

Flynn McGarry graced the cover of The New York Times Magazine’s food section at age 15, was named by Time Magazine as one of the most influential teens in the world, and is the youngest recipient of a Zagat award in the Los Angeles dining scene in the U.S. He has earned the nickname “the Justin Bieber of the culinary world” in America.

Showing a strong interest in cooking from a young age, Chef Flynn began experimenting with cuisine at age 10. Starting at age 12, he ran an exclusive private dining club called Eureka from his home in Los Angeles’ film district. From age 13, he embarked on an apprenticeship journey, studying at Michelin three-star restaurants. At 14, he caught the attention of the owner of the renowned BierBeisl restaurant in Beverly Hills, who invited him to launch a pop-up restaurant under the Eureka name.


▲ Pearl onion with egg yolk beef consommé foam. (Photo / Huang Shih-yuan)

A Regent Taipei public relations representative stated that for this Taiwan guest appearance, Flynn McGarry brought only two assistants. On the evening of August 31, he oversaw a dinner for over 300 guests at the Regent Night event. In addition to the preparatory work, he still hoped to personally handle every dish.

Flynn said his culinary style can be described as Progressive American Cuisine, emphasizing the freshness, original flavors, and superior quality of local ingredients, combined with diverse cooking techniques from different cultures. For his guest stint at Regent, he specially curated several special menus for Taiwan. Taking the dinner menu as an example, the “Pearl onion with egg yolk beef consommé foam” keeps the whole pearl onion intact, with only the base of the onion lightly soaked in low-temperature butter and slightly deep-fried by hand-holding the green leafy tip; it is then roasted over binchotan charcoal and deep-fried a second time. When eating, diners can hold the onion’s green leafy tip and enjoy the rich, full flavor of the onion, paired with a special dipping sauce made from egg yolk, beef consommé, and fish sauce.


▲ Beetroot with beet leaves and beet Bordeaux sauce.


▲ Surf clam with pickled cherry buckwheat (front) and oyster with corn pudding topped with Spanish chorizo and lime (back).