Art Smith’s Lucky Dog

He’s cooked for Oprah and the Obamas, but at Art Smith’s home, companion animals are the most important audience. Smith and his life partner, artist Jesus Salgueiro, share their Chicago condo with no fewer than three dogs, five cats and 15 fish. Cochon, the French bulldog ignoring the morsel in Smith’s left hand here, is obviously a camera hound and very cute, but Smith doesn’t play favorites. The two-time James Beard Award winner, former personal chef for Oprah Winfrey and chef/owner of Washington’s Art and Soul and Chicago’s Table Fifty-Two, loves them all equally. Cochon and his canine, feline and piscine siblings eat pretty high on the food chain. “I love cooking for my pets,” Smith says. “I would never feed my pets (or other people’s pets) anything that I wouldn’t be able to eat myself, including vegetables. I’ve never met a vegetarian dog, but they need vegetables, too. Cochon loves his carrot sticks!”