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'EWE 1I\MGERE Pati Jinich, the popular PBS chef and author of “Mexican Today,” fills her Chevy Chase abode with art and furniture from her homeland. BY VIRGINIA COYNE PHOTOGRAPHS BY TONY BROWN HAIR AND MAKEUP BY ANDREA MITCHELL, WWW.ANDREAMITCHELLUK.COM
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he exterior of Pati Jinich’s home fits right in with other traditional houses in Chevy Chase’s historic town of Somerset, but cross the threshold and you are transported to a world of burnt-brick colored walls, wooden barn-style doors with wrought iron details and Mexican art from Oaxaca. “Inside, we just went crazy,” says the petite and infectiously enthusiastic chef and author of “Mexican Today,” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) out this month. “We couldn’t help ourselves and we made it mostly Mexican.” J When Jinich and her husband and fellow countryman Daniel were building the house in 2010, his grandmother died and bequeathed them her nearly century-old piano. Realizing they would need to ship the piano to Maryland from Mexico in a large shipping container, they decided it afforded them the opportunity to transport more pieces from their homeland to the States as well. The couple traveled to the artisan town of Tlaquepaque, where they found the tile they would use in their kitchen and commissioned a large wrought iron dining room chandelier and massive handmade sliding wood doors with iron scrollwork detail. Back home, Jinich worked with interior designer Jodi Macklin to fill in the blanks. “I love how we were able to tie together the pieces that Pati bought from Mexico with beautiful fabrics, furniture and objects that were sourced locally,” Macklin says. Macklin helped choose many of the rugs and window treatments (most incorporating the “chaudron” color Jinich says she is obsessed with) as well as some of the furniture, including the Tomlinson bar stools in the kitchen, which are perhaps the most used seats in the house. “I work there, I cook there, I test [recipes] there, I feed my kids there and when they come home from school that’s where they sit to have a snack, so my favorite place
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OPENING PAGE: Pati Jinich tests a pumpkin brittle recipe in her home kitchen for an upcoming cooking demonstration at the Mexican Cultural Institute of Washington, where she serves as resident chef. PREVIOUS PAGE (clockwise from top left): A piano that once belonged to husband Daniel Jinich’s grandmother serves as the centerpiece of the living room. The sculpture on the coffee table was created by Pati Jinich in a ceramics class; the kitchen, featuring custom Wood-Mode cabinetry, is the heart of the house. The backsplash tile and the lights above the island were found by Jinich in Mexico; the sliding wood doors between the breakfast nook and the family room were comimissioned and handmade in Mexico; the chandelier above the round table is Niermann Weeks; outdoor furniture by JANUS et Cie graces the back porch. THIS PAGE (clockwise from top left): Sofas by R. Jones are upholstered in a burnt brick or “chaudron” colored fabric by Perennials in the family room; the side tables in the living room are old family pieces; the dining room features a large table that was also passed down from family and a wrought iron chandelier commissioned and fabricated in Mexico. The curtains were made by Everett Designs in Silver Spring using Bergamo fabric. The painting above the sideboard is by Diego Rivera’s grandson, Pedro Diego Alvarado.
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in the house is the kitchen,” Jinich explains. “What I think distinguishes me from other cooks who happen to have shows and cookbooks is that everything I do, I do in my kitchen,” she continues. “I feel like the people who watch the show and get the cookbook really connect because it’s very authentic.” Her popular, James Beard-nominated PBS show, “Pati’s Mexican Table,” is indeed recorded in this kitchen, where a crew of 25 people will invade again this June to film the cooking segments for her fifth season. The kitchen also features a large island, a faux stone oven hood and Wood-Mode custom cabinetry painted to look more Old World than new. The adjoining breakfast nook, with a round wooden table, is another popular family gathering spot. An intricately carved Mexican cupboard, a wedding gift from friends, is filled with silver pieces made by Jinich’s grandparents, who were silversmiths. The sentimentality continues throughout the house. The large dining table and chairs once belonged to husband Daniel’s other grandmother; the side tables in the living room are family pieces as well. The artwork hanging on the walls is Mexican, including the realistic rendering of corn above the sideboard in the dining room, painted by Pedro Diego Alvarado, a grandson of Diego Rivera. Jinich says her mother, Mexico City-based art dealer and appraiser Susana Roth, whom she credits for helping her see art as a longterm investment, helped choose many of the pieces. Every room features leafy green plants, which Jinich has nurtured from saplings and claims she would feel unsettled without. “I like plants that will grow with me,” she says, “that will age with me, that will absorb the energy of the house and that will also give us energy back.”
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