Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/101703
Jesus Salgueiro & Art Smith TOP CHEF VETERAN Art Smith and artist Jesus Salgueiro walk into Eleven City Diner for brunch, casual and relaxed. Art tells how he and Jesus just returned from Washington DC, after preparing a holiday meal with the American Chef Corps for the State Department at The Blair House, which was showcased to nearly 250 embassies around the world. Art, cooking, and advocacy define the lives of this couple, who met 14 years ago on Fisher Island while Art was working as Oprah's personal chef. By both accounts, it was love at first sight. Art told Jesus on their first date, "I'm going to marry you." And he did, 12 years later in Washington at the Lincoln Memorial before several hundred guests. Their first few years together were life-changing. Jesus tells a story: "A few months after we met it was my birthday. Art said, 'So, what can I give you?' I said, 'I want you to write a book... You are a fantastic chef, but just a chef, and you have so much more potential.' I could not be with someone who did not utilize his talent to the fullest." Art says Jesus, who was born in Venezuela and moved to the US in the '80s, is the couple's unofficial businessman and the catalyst to their ventures. "He is the one who sees an opportunity and finds a way to get us there," Art says. Within six months of their first date, they published their first book, Back to the Table: The Reunion of Food and Family, which became a New York Times best seller and won a James Beard Award. They proceeded to write two other books, Kitchen Life: Real Food for Real Families—Even Yours! and Back to the Family. In 2003, they cofounded the award-winning nonprofit Common Threads. Based in Chicago, the organization has programs in three states and in the District of Columbia and serves 20,000 kids by teaching them the importance of nutrition and well-being, and by fostering an appreciation of cultural diversity through cooking, music, and art. In 2008, Art and Jesus opened Table Fifty-Two (their sixth restaurant) on the Near North Side with partner Julie Latsko, in which Jesus's vibrant, colorful artwork depicting hearts and angels is displayed. Over the years, the duo has cooked for world leaders and traveled to 25 countries for major events as culinary diplomats. Everything they do is a "we"—Jesus and Art are a team every step of the way. "Jesus and I are a united front," says Art, "especially when it comes to kids, education, advocacy, and our relationship." While Jesus brushes it off, Art says that conquering Jesus's brain cancer several years ago was truly the most difficult period for them. "I was afraid I would lose him, but Jesus fought and won." This year they will cochair the Equality Illinois event on February 9 and the annual Common Threads charity event on March 4, in which top toques are invited to "cook their hearts out" for kids. Their new book Healthy Comfort (Harper Collins) will be published in May, and Jesus will have his first exhibition, called "Love Mandalas," after a 13-year hiatus. They treasure their alone time: Walking the lake, enjoying their farm in Jasper, Florida, eating in Chinatown, or catching a movie. They even argue openly in the middle of the interview—each one having a different version of the same story. "We love, we argue, we make up," Art says. "If anyone thinks any relationship is smooth sailing—that's a crock. A great relationship is living out loud. We are extremely intense, extremely tender, and most importantly, at the end of the day, we can always look at each other and say, 'We may not agree on something—but I love you.'" 94 "A great relationship is living out loud. At the end of the day, we can always look at each other and say, 'We may not agree on something— but I love you.'" — STYLING BY REBECCA NEENAN FOR FORD ARTISTS THE ARTISTS: COAUTHORS AND COCONSPIRATORS MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 092-099_MA_FEAT_Portrait_Winter13.indd 94 1/2/13 12:06 PM