Chef's Kiss

Mexican culinary sensation Elena Reygadas's recipe for a home that sparks the senses? Two parts craft, one part patina, and no small dose of collecting genius.

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The walls of Elena Reygadas's Mexico City home are tinged dusky pink and faded blue, traces left by those who have inhabited the rooms over the past century. "I'm fascinated by spaces where you can see layers of time," says the acclaimed chef, whose apartment is in the elegant Roma Norte neighborhood. Rather than impose her own colors, she scraped away at the walls to reveal the varied tones that had covered them over the years. Now they serve as a backdrop to the vitality of a new presence.

Reygadas's delight in repurposing the past is evident throughout the home she shares with her partner, a writer, and her daughters, Lea, 15, and Julieta, 13. Flea-market finds coexist with classic designer pieces and family heirlooms, while modern ceramics and signed photographs by Manuel Álvarez Bravo and Graciela Iturbide jostle for attention with traditional Oaxacan pottery and religious images.

"Mexico is a country of infinite creativity," Reygadas says, adding that she doesn't distinguish between creators of fine art and traditional crafts. "We like to be surrounded by everyday and artistic objects that inspire us." It is that enthusiasm that led her to make a collection of wooden milking stools the centerpiece of her living room.