B. Smith, former model, restaurateur, dies at 70

Smith, who shortened her first name to the initial "B." during her modeling career, was regarded as a leading African-American entrepreneur, the Post reported.

Smith's popular Manhattan restaurant, B. Smith, was located at the edge of New York City's theater district, The New York Times reported.

She opened a second restaurant in Washington in 1994 and added another restaurant in Sag Harbor four years later, the newspaper reported.

In 1995, Essence magazine described the restaurant as a place “where the who’s who of black Manhattan meet, greet and eat regularly.”

Smith wrote books, founded her own magazine and hosted a syndicated cooking and home decor television show, "B. Smith With Style," the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

She launched her own home collection at Bed Bath and Beyond in 2001 and wrote three home entertaining books, the newspaper reported.

Smith's battle with Alzheimer's was the subject of her 2016 book, "Before I Forget," co-written with her husband and Michael Shnayerson, the Sun-Times reported.

Although Smith’s audiences transcended race, she was often described as “the black Martha Stewart,” a comparison she said was “a little tired.”

“Martha Stewart has presented herself doing the things domestics and African Americans have done for years,” Smith told New York magazine. “We were always expected to redo the chairs and use everything in the garden. This is the legacy that I was left. Martha just got there first.”