Each week on This Bites, dining critic Ann Christenson from Milwaukee Magazine and Radio Milwaukee’s resident foodie Tarik Moody dig into the city’s culinary and restaurant culture to help you find new spots, old favorites and the best ingestibles around Milwaukee.
A little char on certain foods can add some nice flavor complexity to a dish. On this episode, we’ve got the podcast version of that, with two char-related news items right at the top.
Because we like to start with the positive, our first chat is about Uncle Wolfie’s next pop-up dining event happening this Saturday: Chard Soul, a Southern soul food and barbecue experience from the mind of chef Travis Anderson. The former executive chef of West Bend supper club Timmer’s Resort, Anderson isn’t messing around with a menu as loaded as your plate should be if you manage to score a seat. Among the options:
- Petit Gumbo Arancini — Crispy rice fritters stuffed with dark-roux chicken and andouille gumbo, smoked mozzarella, Creole remoulade
- Smoked Soul Potato Salad — Charred potatoes, tangy mustard dressing, fresh vegetables, smoky bacon; served in endive lettuce boats
- Blackened Catfish — Cajun-seared catfish, sweet corn-tomato relish, creamy gumbo risotto
In more mixed news, Milwaukee diners found out that their last chance to dine at Char’d has come and gone, as the modern Korean restaurant in the Third Ward shut down last Saturday. Not all is lost, however, because the owners are pivoting to a new concept: the curiously punctuated bb.q Chicken, a worldwide chain that will open its first Wisconsin location in July.
Moving on to non-flame-related items, there’s a new takeout-focused buffet coming to 76th Street near Capitol Drive that will put Hmong dishes front and center, with Thai and Lao cuisine mixed in as well. Asian H Express will take over the former Jackie’s Cafe space at 3902 N. 76th St., with co-owner Sam Vang telling Urban Milwaukee that the focus will be on variety so “people can come and pick whatever they want.”
Ann and I always appreciate it when you pick This Bites as your place to catch up on the food-related news happening around Milwaukee, and we’d love it if you’d subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode. Thanks.
