Domino’s Style Director
How he stays inspired while working from home.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY Aaron Bengochea WORDS BY Shanika Hillocks
PRODUCED BY Megan West
ART DIRECTION BY Brit Ashcraft
With the uncertainty the pandemic has brought into our lives, daily personal rituals are now the healing balm to unprecedented times—and working from home has given an entirely new meaning to morning routines. We’re relishing the time saved commuting and finding solace in the extra hour or two we have to set our intentions for the day. We’ve traded in our loafers for slippers, gotten really good at making breakfast, and become our own baristas. Instead of grabbing coffee on the go, we’re sipping while settling in.
For Domino’s style director, Benjamin Reynaert, the day never begins without coffee. A Jackson Heights, Queens, resident, Reynaert envelops in the luxury of greenery and unobstructed views, a perk of living on the top floor of his building. The soundtrack to his early start is near silence as he sits on the eastern side of his apartment to watch the sunrise mature from deep aubergine to periwinkle to cool blue.
Shares the Morning Rituals That
Ahead of any morning salutations, Reynaert enjoys a coffee first thing. “I can’t start my day coherently without coffee,” he says firmly. A self-proclaimed early riser, Reynaert’s first steps lead him to his coffee cart at 7 a.m., where he makes his signature pour—a macchiato—with just one touch of a button.
The integration of a built-in grinder and milk frother in his fully automated De’Longhi Dinamica with LatteCrema™ makes for a seamless experience ideal for one. “You can grab coffee from the Indian market close by, venture up the block for a classic Colombian serve, or pick up a Vietnamese-style cup next door,” Reynaert says of the multitude of options in his neighborhood. “But the rhythm of grinding my favorite beans and frothing my oat milk, which the machine does with ease, and enjoying the first pour at my countertop gives me the opportunity to evolve something systematic into a mini event.”
Coffee in hand, Reynaert makes his way to his reading nook, where copies of The World of Interiors, the Sunday New York Times, and books from designer Thomas O’Brien are within arm’s reach. He flips through the pages for past trends worth resurrecting as his neighborhood starts to wake.
As he prepares to log onto work around 9 a.m., Reynaert’s transition from rise to grind is seamless: With just one touch, he preps an iced coffee first for his first round of meetings. “Being in the design space, form and function go hand in hand, especially when so much of our time is now spent at home,” he says. “De’Longhi leverages the indulgence I’ve discovered in making my coffee in the place that represents me best.”
time is now spent at home.”
“Being in the design space, form
and function go hand in hand
especially when so much of our
Dinamica with LatteCrema™ Automatic Coffee + Espresso Machine with Iced Coffee & an Automatic Milk Frother
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so much of our time is now