Interiors

Yanitzin Sanchez, the chef of Sabor Saveur, studied culinary arts in Mexico. She then moved to Europe to work her way up to executing the kitchens of Paris' Ritz. Her desire was to then bring her experience to Chicago and share her culture and exposure to the American city.

Inspired by her work as an artist, the space was designed to be conceptually an art gallery, placing her ideals front and center. The predecessor to the interior design of the converted automotive shop derived also from the correlation of the two cultures and their relationship. Often celebrated but misunderstood, Cinco de Mayo is the holiday in which the french occupation of Mexico ended. By juxtapositioning the formal and informal/urban and country/vertical and horizontal/ re ned and raw/ French and Mexican the lines were blurred and a gallery manifested.

The space was then split into two divisions. Exuberant and boisterous, the first half of the space where the vertical line creates a formal situation in which the joy of the disappearing art of conversation becomes the key role. The second half with an exposed kitchen (or studio) allows for the onlooker to to see the artist (chef sanchez) at work. Juxtaposed to the formal vertical line of the front half, the horizontal curve of the second half rea rms the casual experience complete with communal dining.

- Jeremy Bouck, Interior Designer