Where Food Meets Art

Oprah's chef, Art Smith, turns a tiny outdated kitchen into a sleek, spacious sensation.

O, The Oprah Magazine | From the Spring 2006 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine

Photo by Gregory Goode, styling by Rebecca Omweg

The design team expanded the kitchen by removing the wall to the dining room. This created a large eat-in space and a place for Art to train his chef's assistants. A nine-foot counter now stands where the wall once did. "This is the big, gorgeous kitchen I've always wanted," Art says. Among the changes:

The room was expanded from 600 to 1,400 square feet, to add a dining area.
Teak cabinets, marble countertops, and limestone floors provide a clean, modern look.

Art and his partner, Jesús Salgueiro, a Venezuelan-born artist, made their own island by placing a large slab of marble atop two tables they had bought years earlier in a Chicago antiques store. "I loved finding a new use for something we already owned," Art says. "Marble ages beautifully, and it's so easy to clean."