Serious Dumplings, Top Chef's Tom Colicchio and food politics

By the end of this month, the Milwaukee area will have a promising new option when Serious Dumplings — a small chain that up until now was limited to five locations in Florida — opens on Mayfair Road in Wauwatosa.

The new spot just north of the Milwaukee County Zoo will fill a glaring hole spotted by sharp folks like myself and Journal Sentinel dining critic Rachel Bernhard: a high-quality dim sum parlor. A quick look at Serious Dumplings’ menu reveals a solid dim sum section, plus the restaurant’s titular dumplings, noodles and rice, and other items I’ll be curious to try when it starts serving Sept. 27.

Our other topic du jour happens Sept. 22, when Chucho’s Red Tacos hosts the inaugural Pho 1 Pho Contest and B-Boy Battle. I mean, the Pho face-off is one thing, but combining it with a breakdancing competition just isn’t fair. The event is a team-up among Chucho’s, ElevAsian and SapSap, and will feature a roster of local restaurants vying for the title of Milwaukee’s best Pho. Plus breakdancing.

That’s a tough slice of food news to top, but we press on:

• Victory Garden Initiative will hold its end-of-season block party Sept. 21, and this year it doubles as a 15-year anniversary celebration.
• It seems like Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio just left Wisconsin, and now he’s coming back Oct. 14 to sit down with Paul Bartolotta for a special night at the Riverside Theater.
• Elections aren’t our territory, but food definitely is, and Senator Tammy Baldwin had something to say to President Biden about getting Wisconsin meats and cheeses to international markets.