She Goes by the Book--Her Own

NEW YORK — The buzz in most restaurants comes to a brief stop when Barbara Smith walks in. But at the restaurant that bears her name, the sun-filled, bustling space keeps humming right along. Smith wouldn’t have it any other way.

A willowy woman with a warm laugh, Smith has channeled childhood cooking experiences and lessons learned as an international model into the success of B. Smith’s restaurants in Washington and New York, where she counts Lena Horne and Robert DeNiro among her clientele.

Last year Smith distilled that experience into a lavishly illustrated book called “B. Smith’s Entertaining and Cooking for Friends” (Artisan). This year, she’ll introduce her special blend of hostess style and culinary know-how to a national television audience with a show that embodies her one entertaining rule: There is no “how to,” only “why not?”

“I tell people to start with just one thing,” she says. “Even if it’s soup, you’ve created something and brought people together. Sharing and seeing people enjoy it is really special.”

Smith brings the same spirit to her work as a public speaker, a spokesperson for Oil of Olay, a fund-raiser and member of several women’s and business groups and the first black woman on the board of the Culinary Institute of America, the country’s most influential cooking school.

She handles all that by striving for balance, she says, and by keeping in mind that “there is no perfection in life.”

Balance often means involving her husband and 10-year-old stepdaughter in projects. They helped test the book recipes three times, and the TV pilot was filmed in her Long Island home. The show will follow the same lines as her book, offering tips on sensible eating habits, cooking and entertaining.

The book invites the reader along on five of Smith’s favorite gatherings: a beach picnic, a cocktail party, a holiday buffet, an intimate dinner for two and a formal dinner for eight.

Smith gives shortcuts and time-saving and creative decorating tips.

It’s a very personal effort, part entertainment manual, part biography. Smith’s friends and family appear in the photographs, and recipes often come with vignettes explaining where she discovered them, how she has gently tweaked her mother’s tried-and-true formulas and which dishes she served at her own wedding dinner.

Smith’s culinary education began early, watching her mother and maternal grandmother (she dedicates the book to both) “cooking up a storm for church picnics and holiday meals, bake sales, Sunday dinners for visiting preachers, funerals and weddings.”

Her memories of childhood in western Pennsylvania have the quality of a Norman Rockwell idyll, with bread rising on heating grates, stews simmering on the stove and fruit pies cooling on the windowsill.

“We ate meals together as a family always,” Smith says. “My parents kept a large flower garden; they grew fruit and vegetables. We went to the lake, picked walnuts, went sled riding; people don’t grow up that way anymore.”

Smith’s parents, whom she describes as hard-working, spiritual people, created a home that was a hub of activity. Consciously or unconsciously, Smith has recreated that atmosphere at her restaurants.

“It’s not just a restaurant,” she says gesturing around her New York establishment. “It’s a community and cultural center. We have weddings, birthdays, a play-reading series, fund-raisers. You name it; we’ve done it. It’s more than just a public place.”

Smith had no intention of making a living this way. “I didn’t foresee a career entertaining or cooking,” she says. “The first thing I wanted to do was model.” With her father’s permission, she traveled three hours every weekend to take a modeling class in Pittsburgh and moved to New York at 19 to become a professional.

Smith’s modeling career with the top-flight Wilhelmina agency took her around the world, making her a cover girl and, in 1976, the first black woman to grace the cover of Mademoiselle.

As Smith moved on, cooking and entertaining remained constants. “Even in her teeniest little New York apartments, she would have dinner parties,” says Nancy Doll, a close friend from Smith’s modeling days. “I still remember from the very beginning a chicken dish with corn bread on top that she made for . . . maybe 30 people.”

Smith picked up recipes and ideas on her travels that have made their way onto the menus in her restaurants and her book, creating an eclectic blend of the homespun and the international.

Smith was always aware that modeling would be a short career and that her other pursuits--singing and acting--would mean endless knocking on doors. “I was in a very competitive business, and I wanted control of my life,” she says.

“Early in my career, I wrote down where in life I wanted to go.”

Smith read Napoleon Hills’ “Think and Grow Rich” and “The Master Key to Riches,” books she sees as focusing not just on monetary riches but on enriching your life as a whole. “I learned you have to write down goals, envision where you’re going, how you’re going to get there,” she says.

“I liked to cook and entertain and, like modeling, the food business is the entertainment business.” She developed her restaurant manager skills, first as a hostess and then as a floor manager, before opening B. Smith in the theater district in 1986.

Smith is still actively involved in the day-to-day running of B. Smith’s, checking in on the kitchen, making sure an entree is pleasing, testing recipes, discreetly sending a waitress to change a slightly soiled blouse.

The key to managing it all lies in spirituality and balance, Smith says. “It’s very important to me. It shapes the way I relate to my husband, daughter, community.

“There’s something spiritual about bringing people together. . . . That’s why it’s important to enjoy the process.”

Smith celebrated her 10-year anniversary as a restaurateur by buying out her partner. And as one 10-year cycle ends and another begins, she is still writing lists of goals. “There are new ones all the time,” she says with a smile. “The cable show, becoming a public corporation, adopting kids.”

If the last 10 years are anything to judge by, she’ll be busy. “On my tombstone, I don’t want it to say ‘I wish I had done something,’ ” Smith says with a laugh. “I want it to say ‘She did everything she wanted to do!’ ”

ROASTED PLUM TOMATO SOUP WITH GOAT CHEESE CROUTONS

Because plum tomatoes are always available, you can make this soup year-round.

24 large plum tomatoes

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)

1/2 cup finely diced onion

1/2 cup finely diced turnip

1/2 cup finely diced carrot

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 quart chicken stock

1/4 cup tomato paste

1/4 cup firmly packed fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley plus extra for garnish

3 tablespoons mascarpone cheese

3 tablespoons goat cheese

12 small slices French bread

Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise and place cut-side up in large roasting pan. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with basil and oregano. Roast at 325 degrees 45 minutes.

Let tomatoes cool slightly before removing skins and seeds. Coarsely chop flesh.

Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion, turnip, carrot and garlic until softened.

Stir in stock, tomato paste and roasted tomatoes. Cover and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.

Finely chop 1 tablespoon basil leaves. Combine chopped basil and 1 tablespoon parsley in small bowl with mascarpone and goat cheese. Blend thoroughly. Spread mixture over slices of French bread. Grill croutons undr broiler until golden brown, about 2 minutes.

Coarsely chop remaining basil leaves and stir basil and remaining parsley into soup.

Serve soup topped with 2 croutons. Garnish with extra parsley.

Makes 6 servings.

Each serving contains about:

312 calories; 792 mg sodium; 9 mg cholesterol; 15 grams fat; 37 grams carbohydrates; 11 grams protein; 2.11 grams fiber.