A Martha Stewart-Inspired Musical Blesses NYC on Monday

Here comes a Martha Stewart musical

Lifestyle queen and the very fabulous Martha Stewart has inspired a musical of her very own. New York actor and writer Ryan Raftery opens his one-man spoof show, based on Stewart’s life, this coming Monday, August 7 at Joe’s Pub. Tickets here.

Ex-Cecil chef tackles the grain bowl

Because fast-casual grain bowls are just what NYC needs more of, the latest Chefs Club Counter iteration is exactly that. Chef JJ Johnson (The Cecil, Minton’s) is behind this one, and he’s making globally inspired choose-your-own rice or barley bowls with roasted salmon and sake-braised pork. It’s the first dinner pop-up at the venue and Johnson’s first preview of his new grain-based hospitality group Ingrained Hospitality Concepts. It runs August 22 and 23. Tickets are here, going for $50 for four courses and a cocktail.

LA’s about to get a dose of NYC

Looks like Spotted Pig dynamic duo April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman are getting close on their new Los Angeles venture: Eater LA reports that they’re about a month out from opening a still-unnamed wood-fired restaurant. Once it’s open, the restaurateur and chef will own restaurants in three different cities, right after New York and SF.

Trump makes an unlikely 21 Club reference

President Donald Trump recently showed his NYC roots at an odd moment, when he compared the Afghanistan war plan to the 21 Club’s renovations in the 1980s. All the details are over here on Eater.com, but the TL;DR is that “Trump reportedly told his advisers that their policy review process was like the renovations at ‘21’ Club in the ’80s wherein the restaurant hired a fancy consultant who closed the restaurant for a year but only ended up changing the kitchen a little bit.”

A new Taiwanese fried chicken spot

Bensonhurst Taiwanese fried chicken restaurant Chicken V has opened a location at 124 Hester Street. Here’s a look at what makes that style unique, courtesy of a food truck in Los Angeles: