It’s the second night of friends and family at Flynn McGarry’s new restaurant, Cove, and the 26-year-old New York chef is breathless at the pass of his vast open kitchen. “Fire two corn fritters! Fluke! Tomato!” he booms, expediting orders.
Cove chefs Hamza Serville (left) and Colton Valentine preparing Jonah crab custard with egg yolk, shiso and toasted bread © Meghan Marin
Corn and shishito fritters with nasturtiums © Meghan Marin
The restaurant’s team are going through the paces of a full dinner service for trusted friends of the house – testing out an eight- course tasting menu in a back corner of the soaring wood-panelled dining room, with à la carte dishes delivered to the larger space out front. “A lot of these people have come to all of our friends-and-family events; they know how to do it,” says McGarry. “We may totally mess up everything – we don’t need to hear your opinion; you’re literally bodies in the room.”
In the back of the kitchen a chef sears cabbage and peppers on a wood-fired grill. “Fire a sweet potato cake,” says McGarry.
