B Smith’s

With its spectacular vaulted ceilings, marble floors and ionic columns, you can’t beat this place’s location in the former Presidential Waiting Hall at Union Station. It is a remarkable contrast to the down-home Southern fare served here by former model Barbara Smith (whose unclouded complexion once graced Oil of Olay ads). Which is not to say the food is not delicious: it is. She upgrades Southern classics to sophisticated oeuvres in ways fun and unexpected, eg vegetarian ribs and the ‘Swamp Thang, ’ a mess of crawfish, scallops and shrimp on collard greens swimming in Dijon cream. The restaurant attracts an affluent African American crowd and is as popular for après-work drinks as it is for dinner. The ambiance is soul soothing, with mellow lights and music, muted colors and mod art on the walls.