Listen Live
CLOSE

b-smith

Designer, decorator, restaurateur, model and television personality Barbara “B.” Smith is saying good bye to the East Coast. The mogul is reportedly closing shop on yet another one of her restaurant locations and moving out of New York to head to warmer climates.

Smith, who shuttered her popular Washington D.C. restaurant location last year after 20 years of operation, is now letting go of her Sag Harbor restaurant as well as her million-dollar Central Park apartment, Page Six reports.While many sources have said Smith has been battling some health issues, her husband, Dan Gasby explained to the paper that they’re just looking to move to a warmer climates and expand the B. Smith licensing brand.

“There’s a difference between quitting and knowing when to quit,” Gasby said.  “There is nothing noble about being old in the cold. I’m 60. My wife will be 65. We had a great run for 17 years in Sag Harbor.” 

B. Smith’s Sag Harbor location has been the “only Black-owned business of any consequence for 55 miles,” since it opened in 1997 Gasby noted. This spring, restaurateur Richie Notar, will expand his Midtown restaurant Harlow into the prime waterfront space. 

Must Read: FYI, You Need This: IMAN’s New CC Creme Is The Perfect Concealer For Dark Circles

But not to worry, B. Smith won’t be totally gone from the dining and entertaining scene.  Her West 46th Street flagship restaurant in New York is still open and she hopes to  start “a new, fresh approach” to their homeware brand, which already has deals with Walmart and Bed, Bath & Beyond.

Meanwhile she and her husband are considering “going South” to Florida, Costa Rica or Panama for a change of pace. “Every time you wake up, you have something to worry about at the restaurant…I don’t want to be ‘13 Years a Slave,’” Gasby said. “You realize it’s very important that you enjoy life to the fullest.”

 READ MORE: 

SHE EATS: NYC’s Mayhem & Stout Has The Best Short Ribs Ever…In Life [REVIEW]

SHE EATS: NYC’s Whitman & Bloom’s Seasonal Eats Will Change Your Life, Seriously [REVIEW]

 

Check Out This Gallery Of Black Celebrities Who Have Cookbooks!

Restaurant Mogul B. Smith Closes Doors, Leaves NYC Because Ain’t Nobody Got Time To Be Cold & Old  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com