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You want your down home soul food in a more urbane, sophisticated setting than those rib and chicken shacks in Harlem? Head to the Upper West Side, where The Shark Bar has been dishing out Southern soul with style and attracting celebrities from Tyson the pugilist to Tyson the model for over 15 years. Once you get past the loud scene at the bar, dining here is relaxed. And though it's the ambiance and the celebrity-sightings that are the Shark Bar's major attraction, don't knock the soul creations that emerge from the kitchen. Standards like spicy chicken wings and crab cakes, along with the original soul roll—chicken, rice, collard greens and black-eyed peas in a puff pastry—are good cocktail accompaniments. For soul food without the fat, The Shark Bar offers a vegetarian gumbo that's so good you won't miss the meat. Fried chicken is one of the restaurant's specialties; here it comes honey-dipped and crisply pan-fried, and its reputation is well deserved. The barbecued ribs in an overly sweet sauce don't fare as well. With each entrée you have the daunting task of choosing two among several side dish offerings. The tender and smoky collard greens go perfectly with the comforting macaroni and cheese. It's hard, too, to resist the dessert-sweet candied yams and the black-eyed peas. — Brian Silverman

Soul roll, $8.95; vegetarian gumbo, $9.95