Art & Soul, located just inside the Liaison Capitol Hill Hotel in
Washington, DC, is Chef Art Smith's first restaurant in DC. Chef Smith,
better known as Oprah Winfrey's former personal chef, opened this new
restaurant as the first Southern restaurant in the nation's capitol,
serving the gamut of traditional but modernized comfort food. The
space—indoors and out—really lends itself to gatherings and parties.
Bold touches of red throughout as well as basic black accentuate the
sophisticated atmosphere. I think it helps show off the traditional
Southern food in an even more modern light.
While I was in DC with Destination DC,
I had the pleasure of staying at the Liaison Hotel and dining at Art
& Soul on my first night. I was joined by two other bloggers, Cathy
from Gastronomy Blog and Olga from Mango Tomato,
as well as writers from other parts of the country. The best and most
surprising part was that Art Smith himself was there to have dinner
with us. It was truly an experience to be savored and remembered.
Our evening began with Southernized hors d'ouevres and cocktails. First
luscious and creamy fried mac 'n cheese balls. Then small hoecakes with
smoked salmon and caviar. Fried chicken with gravy that were served
between bite-size biscuits came next. Finally seared tuna atop a fried
green tomato with green tomato relish. I never imagined Southern food
could work as such elegant finger food.
It was the best of climes…it was the worst of climes. Well, perhaps not either, but pretty damn cold.