mavens of all time". And she is. She is our “Martha (Stewart)”. Her brand has continuously been at the forefront of a trans cultural movement. Her unique ability to merge cultures through a shared appreciation for style. is unparalleled. Smith regularly offers advice to television and radio audiences and avid cooks who enjoy reading her recipes books. She is a renowned restaurateur and home décor authority. B. Smith is a force of nature!
Washington, D.C. B. (Barbara) Smith was born in Pennsylvania on August 24, 1949. Her mother was a maid and her father was a steelworker. She began her career using her initial in the 1970's when she phoned in for appointments at the prestigious Wilhelmina agency, she was the second African-American to grace the cover of Mademoiselle magazine, in 1976 and from there went on to grace the covers of 15 magazines before investing in a Manhattan restaurant in the mid-1980's. She later became a partner in that restaurant, and now owns two more outright -- one at Union Station, in Washington, and the other on the wharf in Sag Harbor. Her book ''B. Smith's Entertaining and Cooking for Friends,'' published in 1995, was among the first on entertaining by a black author. B. Smith is a pioneer . Her success in the lifestyle category is indicative of how her talents and expertise span a wide range of specialties. The New York Daily News, once hailed her as “one of the most important African American style
''Her restaurants are the black '21' clubs, the places to see and be seen,'' says Lawrence Otis Graham, author of ''Our Kind of People: Inside America's Black Upper Class.'' ''People know that if they go there, they're going to run into the right people, the black folks you know from the
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