Deadline is reporting that ABC drama pilot Harlem’s Kitchen has cast Sheryl Lee Ralph (Ray Donovan) and The Strain‘s Miguel Gomez.
From Zahir McGhee (Scandal), Harlem’s Kitchen centers on an African-American family who runs a fine-dining restaurant in Harlem. Their foundation is shaken after an unexpected death in the family leads to secrets long thought buried being brought into the light.
Ralph will play Rice family matriarch CC, a world-class pastry chef who always puts the needs of her family above her own and who has been the secret ingredient in her husband’s success.
Gomez will portray undocumented line cook Marco, who was taken in by the Rice family when he arrived in New York with his brother. Hard-working, passionate, and sensitive, Marco is imminently likable.
Harlem’s Kitchen is one of several dramas in contention at ABC for 2020-21, joining gothic soap The Brides, about the fraying relationship between the three Brides of Dracula; Rebel, which stars Katey Sagal as an Erin Brockovitch-like legal advocate; thirtysomething sequel thirtysomething(else); and plane crash tale Wreckage. The network also has a straight-to-series order in David E. Kelley PI drama The Big Sky and a “second cycle” pilot order for decade-hopping medical drama Triage.
In addition to her role on the Showtime drama, Ralph’s television credits include Fam, Moesha, and Claws, while Gomez has appeared on the likes of SMILF and Louie.
