Page 80 - BFM F/W 2024

Eureka characterized his first, youthful venture into fine dining. Then, at 19 — when most of his peers had just finished high school — Gem Restaurant marked a newfound sense of independence. Maturing into Gem Wine, McGarry explored hospitality from another angle.
“I’m dipping my toes into a different side of restaurants,” he explains. “At the end of the day, I still resonate much more with the fine dining kind of space, [but] it’s been a really interesting time, trying to find where I land in the more casual space.”
This period has also given McGarry a chance to discover different aspects of the restaurant industry — such as staffing, design, and finances — which, while challenging, has pushed him to grow.
“Food is just one part of it,” he adds. “Right now is that period where we’re really seeing: ‘Okay, what’s working here?’ We had all that time with Gem [Restaurant], which gave the team and me a lot of great information to work off of, but we’re still utilizing this time to make decisions.”
Gem Wine × Spring defines the latest phase of McGarry’s career. It’s playful, innovative, and well-connected. High-quality cuisine shows the casual confidence of someone that’s been in the game for a while. It’s easy to forget McGarry’s youth, given his strong resume. Yet in the era of pop-ups, he retains an earnest sense of experimentation.
“A lot of my time is spent meeting with purveyors, farmers — all of the different people who are actually getting us the food. That’s really where everything starts,” he explains. “From there, it’s a pretty natural process of changing [the menu] or thinking of new ideas.” There’s a bit of trial and error, to be sure, but McGarry says it’s an intuitive process. “Sometimes, things just come, which is really nice,” he laughs.
Instincts aside, McGarry says there’s a logic behind his practice. In fact,
that’s what led him to embrace sustainability, from harvest to hiring. “It’s a holistic view — the goal is not to be sustainable; the goal is to have a restaurant where everything works: where the team is happy and the food is delicious. Sustainability is at the centre of that,” he says. “The best tasting vegetable is one that was picked a day before,” he explains. “[We] create this really personal relationship with the farmers. That was the original idea of using local produce; the carbon emissions reduction is a plus to it, but really, it’s about a connection.”
As a manager, McGarry takes the same approach. He ensures that employees have a sustainable schedule and work-life balance. “The goal is a happy team, cooking good food. When you look at that and you say: ‘Okay, how can I achieve that?’ [The answer] is always the most sustainable route.”
Of course, sustainable doesn’t mean static. Should things turn stale or self-referential, McGarry is quick to take flight. The goal, he explains, is to “walk away feeling like you got a picture of the geography, whether it’s from the produce, local restaurants, or whatever culture you’re experiencing there.”
Travel gives McGarry a “jump-start” in the kitchen — local produce has a fresh glow, invigorated by new methods. “Everything is incredibly seasonal,” McGarry says. “I’ve never really [said] ‘It needs to be the same ingredient.’ It’s more like, ‘Okay, it’s going to be that ingredient while it’s good.’ Then, the second that it goes out of season, it’ll have to change.”
Back home, McGarry promises a new space is in the works. Though he’s tight-lipped about the details, longevity is top priority: “We’re looking at how we can open something that stays open for 15 years, change as it needs to, and fit my needs and my team’s needs.”
This new endeavour — no matter how it manifests — seems to share an unspoken motto with McGarry’s past projects: embrace the change.
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