David Santos on Teen Chef Flynn McGarry: 'It's Not About Playing Dress Up'

David Santos — the chef who opened and closed Louro in the West Village not too long ago — won't be paying the $160 to try teen chef Flynn McGarry's tasting menu pop-up Eureka NYC when it opens this fall. When Eater shared the new about McGarry's new venture yesterday, Santos tweeted that "This should offend any self respecting chef." And today, he drops a rant about McGarry — and the media's coverage of the chef — on Instagram. Here is his unedited screed:

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 then 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.If you go to this and fork over $160 plus then your 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 dishes.

That's a pretty harsh assessment of the McGarry phenomenon, to say the least. Although the kid has gotten a lot of press partially because of his age, he continues to sell-out dinners across the country, so surely he must be doing something right.  It's also worth noting that just like McGarry, Santos initially earned acclaim from doing pop-up dinners.